Enlarged Heart?
 

Hi there, i'm new to this forum as my yorkie came back from the vet today with an enlarged heart!? and a lower heart rate of 80bpm?! The vet has recommended an ultrasound. does this seem out of place to you? The x-ray showed his heart was 1/3rd the size of his body? we are quite worried. I thought you might be able to shed some light on the subject for us. Thanks a billion Rach and Sebastian.

I don't know but I am praying it will be ok.

Welcome to YT. I'm orry to hear about Sebastion. I cannot give you any advice, but I hope they are able to do something for him.

I'm sorry to hear about your baby's problem. I think you are right to be concerned. Thank goodness you had a Vet that was observant. I say do the Ultrasound and anything else you have to do to diagnose the problem. I don't know what it is, but if your Yorkie is young, it's probably a heart condition he was born with. I'm sure there is alot of information on the internet-some good information, some not, so be careful. Pippa and Scout send Yorkie hugs to Sebastian!

Let me say first, that my experience with enlarged hearts is with humans, not dogs - so some of what I say might be incorrect in relation to dogs - but I DO know that dogs sometimes develop enlarged hearts.

An enlarged heart usually means congestive heart failure (CHF). The heart become enlarged because it is working too hard to pump out the blood throughout the body. It is exactly the same as when you lift weights to build up your muscles and make the larger - the heart is a muscle and when it is overworked, it gets larger. Unfortunately, that is not a good thing for the heart.

It can happen if the heart was attacked by a virus, or if there are birth defects in the heart, or if the dog has experienced a heart attack.

I'm confused by the low heart rate though, because the heart rate is often faster in CHF in an effort to get more blood to the body.

If your baby is older, this may be a part of aging - that does not mean that all older dogs have it, but sometimes it develops as dogs (and humans) age.

If your baby is younger, this is not a good sign, although CHF can be controlled in some cases with heart medication.

You definitely need the ultra sound and need a vet who is well versed in canine heart problems.

Good luck, let us know what happens.

Welcome to you and Sebastian...... I don't have any input, I am just sending a warm welcome, hugs, and prayers that Bastie will be ok :)

Good luck to you, please keep us posted.

I am sorry to hear you are going through this. I'm afraid that I really can't shed much light either. I've had two dogs with enlarged hearts but both were large dogs (approx 100+ pounds) and both were 10 years of age. One died of a heart attack and the other was eventually diagnoised and died of Hemangiosarcoma. I recommend the ultrasound to give you much more information.

Please keep us posted. You are in our prayers.

I had a mal Yorkie, Zorro that was diagnosed at 5 years with an enlarged heart and he lived to be 13 years old. I do not know how enlarged it was but it was 23 years ago and better technology and medicines exist. Good luck and Iwould do the ultrasound it may ease your mind or at least help them decide the plan of treatment.

I will be praying for you both, Best wishes. I wished I could help you.

Thanks for your replies. Bastie is 16months old, the vet picked up the heart during an exam for his stomach upset. I guess we're trying to get an idea if his heart is in danger/enlarged or not/regular. The vet is unsure if the heart is meant to look like that as she doesn't have anything to compare it to. Is it just that is body is small so the heart looks large? We'll go ahead with the ultrasound. Any useful links to yokie medical info?

Thanks again, we'll let you know how we get on.

Its not because his body is small that the heart is large . It is a malformation of the heart .

I'm so sorry to hear that Sebastian is under the weather. We will keep him in our prayers. Please let us know what the ultrasound shows.

Welcome to YT. I am sorry to hear Sebastion is under the weather. It's lucky the vet found out about his heart. I hope things work out and your wee little guy is ok. Prayers and hugs for you both.

My yorkie was said to have an enlarged heart back in Feb. 05 when I was on vacation ... I told my home vet but he did not affirm it until this past July, I did have the ultrasound done as a baseline.
They say she has a heart murmur but on a scale of 1-6, shez only a 1, so no meds are needed. I say YES have the ultrasound done to give you peace of mind.
Debbie

Getting a baseline is a great reason - especially if he is 16 months and showing no troubles. You are in our prayers.

Thanks again for all you advice and thoughts. Does anyone know what the normal heart rate of a Yorkie is meant to be. We are off for a check up tomorrow and hopefully ultrasound on Thursday. Keep you posted

Slightly enlarged hearts are common in Yorkies so it really does depend how enlarged it is. Now 1/3 the size of the dog is too big though. Will be hoping for the best for you.

herez some info I found about terrier's heart rate ... good luck at the vet's.

http://www.wndu.com/news/mommo/062006/mommo_50917.php
“The normal heart rate for him is 80 to 120. It was down to 36,” said Jan Guy, Zack’s owner. “The pacemaker is in his back right there. It's about the size of a silver dollar.”

phew
 

Thanks for the info Monday. We went to the vet last night, Seb's colour has returned to the normal pink and his heartrate has raised from 80bpm to 110bpm. The vet now thinks this was due to the trauma of his gut infection. He is over that now and the heart specialist sees no cause for concern. We will check him again after his course of antibiotics. The enlarged heart seems to be a normal size heart in a small size body. He's only a wee lad of 2kg

Thanks for your support, its great to have a network like this to share thoughts and knowledge of our treasures.:aimeeyork

Enlarged Hearts
 

Not to scare you, but I my Cocker Spaniel that I had for over 11 years (we did not get her when she was a puppy, she was a rescue, so I am really not sure of her exact age, but she was older...probably around 13-15 years of age) passed away this January and we found out that she had an enlarged heart when my vet did a Chest X-ray on her. She started having little Heart Attacks (which happened about a day or so AFTER the vet put her on antibiotics for a Cancerous Tumor that she had on her stomach, of course we had this surgically removed, this was done on the day she passed away, her passing happened not long after the surgery of her tumor removal due to her having another heart attack) and right after that is when the Heart Attacks started. The vet, nor I, had no idea that she had enlarged heart before she was put on the medication for the tumor, so I have no idea if her having an enlarged heart and being put on the meds made everything worse, but thats when the heart attacks started and a few days later my sweet baby passed away. Please, please, please have the ultrasound done. It is better to be safe than sorry :(

Hi Bastie,
I am so glad to hear that you are feeling and looking better ... letz see 2 kg would be 4.4lbs.... I weigh 4.25 lb. so we are similar ... the vet showed my mommy the x-ray but she did not know what she was looking at, and this was not my regular vet.
I had tummy problems also.. But now I am on a dry low fat diet and in 13 days I will have been tummy trouble free for a year. YAY!!!!! what dog food are you eating??? I eat CALIFORNIA NATURAL dry lamb & rice low fat! I don't know what you have in NZ ... but I do suggest low fat! you are a tiny doggie like me .... We have little tummies & "Large" hearts!
Always Happy to help ...
Monday