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Originally Posted by chattiesmom  You are so wise to have the cardiogram on Louis. We have Boo the Boxer who has Boxer Cardiomyopathy. It is so common in Boxers that the condition was named for them. Basically it is an electrical conduction disorder that causes the heart to beat erratically. I was completely unaware of the condition until her first episode at age 10. She just flopped over - it looked similar to a seizure, but it wasn't. After a couple of minutes she got up and acted like nothing was wrong. A trip to the vet and an ultra sound plus cardiogram diagnosised the problem. The Dr, Amy told us that Boo would probably be with us for 3 to six months - with proper care and her meds. That was last spring and Boo is still going strong. We cherish every day with her. Sorry if this was long and rather off topic. |
I am so sorry about Boo! I knew about MVD when I was looking for a Cavalier so I interviewed so many breeders to see who tested hearts and had older, heart clear parents. There is something like 80% of all Cavaliers will have at least a grade one heart murmur by age 7. Its such a shame that there are all these genetic defects in purebred dogs. I imagine that the AKC is going to have to start allowing controlled breeding into purebreds to widen the gene pool and preserve purebreds - otherwise we won't have them around much longer....Louis doesn't show any heart murmur symptoms, but since I know this about the breed, there is no reason not to test yearly.
My breeder recommended taking Louis to a veterinary cardiologist at age 2 and yearly thereafter to be safe.