Congestive Heart Failure

[LisaSid]

:I already thought I posted this but it isn't showing up so I will try again.

Hi guys it's been awhile. I really need anyone's advice or help.
My Coco who is 6 1/2 years old, large for a Yorkie (18 pounds and she's not fat) had her nails trimmed last Thursday by my vet and she was breathing heavy and weezing like always, she gets really excited. Normally after an hour or so she settles down and goes back to a normal happy and energetic dog. This time her breathing became more labored and by 8pm she was in distress so we rushed her to the emergency vet hospital. They did an exam and a set of x-rays and told me that she was in congestive heart failure. We had no clue before, thought she had asthma and gave her Benadryl (what the vet recommended). They kept her the night and put her on a diuretic (Furosemide) (she had fluid in her lungs) and a heart med (Benazepril) to help with the heart issues. We have her home now and she is lethargic, staying in a dark quiet place and resting. I imagine that it is like a human having a heart attack. We have an appointment to see an intern medicine specialist on Friday and a cardiologist next month. Has anyone had this happen? Now I'm looking at my other three Yorkies and wondering if they too have problems. Please help if you can and I'm asking for prayers as well. Thanks for reading my long post.

[Maximo]

I am sorry to hear Coco has CHF. Praying for her that the doctors will be able to offer a treatment plan to manage her symptoms.

I do not have any personal experience with canine CHF.

It would be a good idea to take your other pets for a physical and have the vet listen to their hearts/lungs.

[Lolasmom1211]

I'm so sorry to hear about your baby. If you are like me, you will worry until she sees the specialist! I wonder if you could call the cardiologist in the morning and explain what is going on and how concerned you are - maybe they could see you earlier??? I've been known to beg! Please keep us posted...I'll pray for your baby girl.

[107barney]

I don't have any advice but wanted to wish you good luck. I'll be looking for an update.

[Rocky31109]

My first two Yorkies had it but they were both 14 1/2 and there was nothing they could do because they both also developed renal failure. Since yours is so young I would see a specialist. Hopefully because she is so young they can treat her with medication!

I hope for the best for your coco!


Ps-I also have 4 Yorkies (3under 1yr). My 7 yr old is also large! 14lbs!

[lisaly]

One of my Rainbow Bridge babies had CHF..she took Lasix and Enalapryl, but we had to take her off her Enalapryl because it was harming her kidneys. Today there is a wonderful drug called Vetmedin that works great for CHF. It's likely they will need to do an echocardiogram to see what's causing her CHF. My thoughts and prayers are with both of you and your other pups as well.

[chestermama]

good luck with your visit

[LisaSid]

I first want to thank all of you who have prayed and replied to my post. Since she came home on Friday I have spoken to the vet several times (I'm a worry wart) about her appetite, water intake, etc. and I guess I am doing what I should be. She is stronger and a little better each day or off to the specialist we would go. I will keep you updated on her progress as I would never want anyone to have to go through this. Thank you again for your kind words and prayers.

[lisaly]

I'm glad to hear your baby is doing better. This thread was about a very special King Cavalier Charles Spaniel who had mitral valve disease which is not unusual in the breed. It's amazing how much the right medication helped this precious little girl. Abby's case of CHF was severe, but she outlived what her cardiologist predicted for a couple years. The video posted of her warmed my heart so. Abby's mom was so devoted to her care, and her love and the medication Vetmedin gave Abby such a wonderful quality of life. I am praying that Coco's heart condition improves. After my Kiwi had CHF, one of her sisters needed to be put on Enalapryl because of an enlarged heart. I was terrified because Kiwi couldn't tolerate it. Ashley was close to eleven at the time, and she lived for more than six years after her diagnosis.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...ot-yorkie.html

[ShowGirlLola]

My poodle had CHF, she was diagnosed at 14 and died at 15 1/2. She also had leukemia (found at the same time as CHF, we didn't treat it) and epilepsy (life long, on medicine).

She was on furosemide and vetmedin, later on the vet added another diuretic. She had to start wearing diapers soon after starting the first diuretic.
We didn't see a cardiologist or anything, we didn't know they existed, and with her age and other problems it wouldn't have been worth it anyway.

She did well until the last half a year, and then her problems were mostly mental.

Warning, the medication isn't cheap. The only way I could find to lower the cost was with her vetmedin. I asked my vet to give her 5mg pills, and I cut them up into 4 1.25mg pills.

[theporkieyorkie]

My oldest dog was diagnosed with CHF with an x-ray a veterinarian took. Another vet looked at the xray and said the same thing. The diagnosis, based on the x-ray from the first dog, was again confirmed again by a cardiologist who reviewed the x-ray.

I ended up taking him to a neurologist to figure out whether the "episodes" he was having, which led to the initial vet visit, were heart related or whether they were seizures, strokes etc etc. and it was there we did an ultrasound and and ECG and discovered he did not have CHF after all.

I would DEFINITELY recommend getting a ultrasound done, if you haven't yet. These little dogs can suffer from Mitral Valve Disease, which leads to CHF...and the ultrasound will allow the vet to see how well the valves are working.

My dog was put on both lasix and vetmedin to manage his CHF. The vetmedin dilates the blood vessels and the lasix is a diuretic. I hated giving him the lasix because it makes his kidneys work harder and I know how bad it makes people feel. We ended up taking my dog off the lasix, but he is still on the vetmedin because he does have a murmur...but I am hopeful we can wean him off that too. One of the things I've noticed is that my dog now pants. He NEVER used to pant in the summer or on walks like he does now. It seems like the vetmedin makes him winded.


I am not sure if the doctor talked to you about changing your dogs food...but you are going to want to change to a low sodium diet. I am not sure how your dog eats, but mine is a picky eater. We started out on H/D and I ran through a lot of foods that were lower in sodium.

If your dog won't eat H/D(which is .04% sodium), the second lowest I found was Wellness Canned Simple "Turkey and Potatoes, which is .07% sodium...which is lower in sodium than some of the "heart healthy diets." Royal Canine also makes perscription food. Pedigree makes a heart friendly diet. Innova Senior Canned is also lower in sodium....


You will also want to be careful with the treats you feed your dog. I switched everything around to low/no sodium. Sweet potato fries, Pup corn, freeze dried chicken/liver, Isle of Dogs Vital soft and chewy dog treats are a few I found that either are low in sodium.


The good news is... it is possible that a dog can live a fairly long healthy life with CHF, if it is managed properly. The bad news is...there is no cure. But it seems like you guys are headed in the right direction with the interernist and cardiologist. It's definitely something to take serious and be proactive about...and you aren't the only one who didn't know about the "coughing." My mom thought her dog was having a reverse sneeze!!

[lexi43]

Our prayers go out to you and Coco that she will be alright.

[LisaSid]

We took her to the specialist on Friday and he checked her out head to tail, did a complete blood work up and does not believe she had anything wrong with her heart other than it was a little large. The attack she had was triggered by stress and her weight. So we got ready to go home, we live across town about 25 miles from this vet. I put her in the car and it started all over. She was wheezing, panting and developed liquid diarrhea, so I took her back in. They kept her Friday night. Gave her a sedative, put her in an oxygen cage and stopped the other meds the other vet put her on. They monitored her all night and her heart and respiration were normal. Her blood work came back normal as well. We picked her up yesterday and she is already almost to her old self. They believe it was all stress induced from her getting her nails clipped and going in the car. Because she is so over weight that it started a snow ball effect and once she was into one of these attacks it was hard to get her back out. So we have to keep her calm, lose some weight and then we might be able to start walking her. They do want me to keep the appointment with their new cardiologist just to be sure that she isn't having lung/heart problems but at this point they believe that she may even have a touch of asthma which is what my family vet said to begin with. So thanks for all the prayers, they really do help and hopefully this thread may be able to help someone else who is having this problem. I will keep you posted on what the cardiologist says if we do wind up going to her. Thanks again