Dilated Cardio Myopathy

[Guest FastDogRunning]

Does anyone else have experience of this? Link was diagnosed at hte start of June - he had started coughing. He has been on diaretic and heart tablets since then. We were referred to a cardiologist and he has added in more medication but says that its quite bad and we probably only have about 6 months definately not a year.

 

On the x-rays his heart is huge - it takes up nearly his whole chest - his lungs and oesopagus (sp) are getting squashed and he has fluid on his lungs because his heart is failing. The vet says he will soon start to have fluid in his belly as the right side of his heart is failing too. The medication makes his symptoms better and he is not in pain so at least thats something.

 

I'm devastated and have not heard of this in greyhounds before. Wondered if anyone else has any experience?

 

Kirsten

[Batmom]

No advice, just hugs.

[Neighsayer]

I'm sorry to hear this news....hugs!

[Guest greyhound1]

[Guest LolasMom]

[msjpk]

Can you talk to the group you got him from. Maybe they can help you.

Is he under a Cardiologist care? Prognosis? Second opinion with another Cardiologist? How hold is your grey?

Not sure where you live but NJGAP MD's are really experienced.

Give them a call.

Good luck.

[Burpdog]

I've only had a Dobe with cardio.

 

Sending prayers.

 

Email Ohio State and see if they have any advice

[MarcR]

I'm so sorry. Nadia was diagnosed with cardio over three years ago when she was my foster. When I adopted her (took less than a week to flunk fostering ), I took her to a cardiologist who confirmed the diagnosis. She's on digoxin and Enalapril. Fortunately, it is still mild, but she will cough occasionally when she gets very excited.

 

Link's case sounds pretty advanced. How old is he?

Edited July 15, 2007 by MarcR

[krissn333]

I saw this and immediately clicked on it...my friend's boy passed away suddenly from this recently. They had no idea anything was wrong with him until it was too late, so they weren't able to do anything to help him. She said their vet said that if it is caught early medication can help, but will not cure the condition.

 

Often this happens and the owner will not really see any clear cut symptoms, just labored breathing and being lethargic. Unfortunately in the summer months we often see our pups panting anyway just because it's hot, so we wouldn't think anything of it.

 

I read somewhere that greyhounds may have larger hearts than other dog breeds anyway, I am not sure if that's valid or not.

 

It's very devastating, but I'm glad that at least some medication seems to be helping him.

 

If you want to PM me your email addy I will pass it along to my friend, I know she'd be more than happy to talk with you.

[MarcR]

I saw this and immediately clicked on it...my friend's boy passed away suddenly from this recently. They had no idea anything was wrong with him until it was too late, so they weren't able to do anything to help him. She said their vet said that if it is caught early medication can help, but will not cure the condition.

 

Often this happens and the owner will not really see any clear cut symptoms, just labored breathing and being lethargic. Unfortunately in the summer months we often see our pups panting anyway just because it's hot, so we wouldn't think anything of it.

 

I read somewhere that greyhounds may have larger hearts than other dog breeds anyway, I am not sure if that's valid or not.

 

It's very devastating, but I'm glad that at least some medication seems to be helping him.

 

If you want to PM me your email addy I will pass it along to my friend, I know she'd be more than happy to talk with you.

 

Greyhounds do have larger hearts than other breeds of similar size. That can sometimes lead to a misdiagnosis of enlarged heart (or exageration of the degree of enlargement) by a non-grey savy vet.

[Greytlady94]

I have dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. I was diagnosed about ten years ago. My first cardiologist almost killed me with his treatment, fortunately I got angry with his lack of proper care and got another cardiologist. The medications I take are Coreg, Avapro, Lasix, and I used to take Lanoxin which is digitalis but my heart improved enough that I do not currently have to take it. The size of my heart reduced on this combo of meds. I know some veterinary cardiologists do prescribe these same meds, ask you vet about them if Link is not already taking them. Sending prayers and gentle ear scritches for Link. Edited to add, because of the Laix I also have to take potassium. I would ask the vet about that also, I don't know how potassium is in dogs. Edited July 15, 2007 by Greytlady94

[Guest argolola]

Link will be in my prayers.

[Remolacha]

I was just at a lecture on canine heart disease earlier today. He said, in brief, there are medications that can improve the quality of life, and sometimes extend it, but not for very long. Depending on how bad it is, 6-9 months is the AVERAGE, I caped that because there are some dogs that live longer. He did mention a new drug, Pimobendan (Vetmedin), that has recently been approved for dogs, but is not approved for humans. You might want to ask your cardio vet about that.

[Guest FastDogRunning]

Hi,

 

Thanks for all your kind thoughts. Firstly we are in the UK not the US (I forget that as I have just renewed my membership I have no info on here yet). Link is now under specialist cardiologist care. He is on Vetmedin 7.5mg twice daily along with various other things that I can't remember the names of off the top of my head. He has to be on a lot of diarretic to keep the fluid off his lungs and other medications to try and protect his other organs from all the different medication.

 

My own vet and the cardio are very knowledgeable about greyhounds - the cardio has had a few of his own. They have both told me that greyhound hearts are taller and larger than other dogs but that Links heart is at least twice normal size - believe me if you had seen the xrays you would know what I mean. When I saw them my first question to the vet was 'where are his lungs?'

 

My own vet was hopeful for a much better long term prognosis but in the time between initial diagnosis (beginning of June) and seeing the cardio (last week) he has worsened again and his meds have had to be upped and more things added in. My own vet had done ecg and xrays and when the cardio did them he said things have progressed even in that time. He said that Link's condition is very aggressive but he hopes we should have three reasonable months before we have to review the medication again. Currently he is symptom free which is a relief as when he was very bad he was having coughing fits and couldn't get his breath.

 

To be honest I have always said that Link wouldn't live to be a really old grey as he badly injured his back when he was 5 and has been left with a limp which has become more pronounced with age. I always thought we would get to the stage of having problems with that - it never occurred to me that anything else would happen. I feel so cheated as we adopted him at 4 and now he is only 8. All the vets always said he was a miracle for recovering from such a bad back injury (at the time of the accident he was paralysed from the shoulders down). I suppose I should be thankful for that and the years we have had.

 

I have been questioning myself as to whether there were any symptoms that we didn't notice but until two days before we took him to the vet he had good appetite and wanted to go for his usual long walks. The only symptom was the odd cough for a few weeks then all of a sudden he was having the coughing fits and obviously then we took him straight to the vet. To be honest he has always done the odd cough which I believed was just because of the way he gulps his food. Mostly in the past he has only coughed at mealtimes so I think it probably was most likely that he had something stuck but maybe that was an early sign. The cardio thinks this is something which he has always had and it has been working away silently.

 

My vet has also given me diazepam for his nerves - he is really bad with thunder storms and fireworks. Unfortunately due to his condition they can't give him a strong sedative and the diazepam may not work. Currently i am very worried about this as we have guy fawkes night on the 5th November and for about 3 weeks before and 3 weeks afterwards we get lots of fireworks every night. If Link is still with us he will probably be quite ill by then and I just can't see him coping with that. I have said to DH that it would be unfair to put him through that as to be honest he gets so distressed I think he would have a heart attack anyway. The cardio has warned us that in rare cases the dog will have a heart attack and drop dead but in most cases we will eventually have to come to the decision that enough is enough and Link will be PTS.

 

I am taking comfort that he is under excellent veterinary care and I do trust my vet and the cardio. I spent a long time searching for the right vet when we got Link and they have always looked after him well. I feel awful that he is having to spend long days in the vet to get the ECG etc done but he knows them well now and I think he is reasonably happy there. The cardio was lovely and made a huge fuss of him - he got down to his level and was kissing him and so on. I think these things do help when he is being left in a strange place.

 

Anyway the long and the short of it is that unfortunately I think the diagnosis and the prognosis are accurate but I do feel happy that he is getting excellent care. I went up in the loft last night and dug out all the old photos from when we first had Link. I will try to scan some in and post them later - I have forgotten how to do it now. Maybe then some of you will remember us from before.

 

Sorry for the long post.

 

Kirsten

[MarcR]

I wish Link's prognosis was better, but it's clear he's getting excellent care. Please don't feel guilty about not discovering his condition sooner. It sounds like he was pretty much asymptomatic until his condition became acute.

 

There's little I can say to ease your feeling of impending loss. No matter how long a loved pet is with us, it is never long enough.

[nyGreys]

:grouphug

[Remolacha]

You are doing everything you can for him I hope he beats the odds, but I can understand your concerns about the fireworks. I would think they would be very stressful for him.

 

for some good time with Link

[Greytlady94]

From what you have posted it sounds as though Link is getting the best care available. I'm glad that he is doing so well right now. Try not to worry ahead to November, just take one day at a time. Sending prayers for Link.

[queenwinniesmom]

I'm so sorry you've gotten this prognosis. But I agree, it seems that Link is getting excellent care. These dogs surprise us sometimes, though. When I read that his heart was so big, it brought back memories of this time last year when my Angel Nick was diagnosed with Addison's disease. There were no symptoms other than the lethargy and not eating, and even though we took him to the vets right away, it was misdiagnosed at first, and 2 days later, came the "crash". But along with the Addison's, we didn't know that Nick also had cardiomyopathy. His heart was grossly enlarged, and the 2 treatments were at odds with each other. Addison's affects the adrenal gland and the body's ability to fight stress, and together, it was just too much for our precious boy. Please don't blame yourself for not knowing sooner---if they don't have symptoms, there's just no way you can tell. We'd just come back from Grapehounds, where Nick had a wonderful time, so happy, and seemingly healthy. I guess in retrospect, though his loss was shattering, I would rather have not known. We got to have that time together, which I cherish. I know you will cherish your time with Link, and that is the best thing you can do. He's happy to be with you today, with no thoughts about what could happen in the future. You love him very much, and he knows that.

[robinw]

sounds like link is getting excellent care and that you are doing wonderful things for him. you're both in my thoughts

[Guest hamiesmom]

Lot's of hugs, prayers and white light for you and Link. Enjoy the time you have with him and spoil him rotten.

[Guest LynnM]

PM OnrushPam... we've been dealing with Congestive Heart Failure in her oldest hound for a year now. He was quite sick at the time of diagnosis, but medication and diet can make a real difference. One thing we've noticed is that when his mouth gets foul (he has AWFUL teeth), he starts feeling awful. The bacteria in his mouth bother his already weakened heart. He receives a round of clindamycin to help knock down the bacteria when this happens. It really makes a difference for him. We recently had to bump up his Lasix, but that was the first increase in his meds in a year.

 

Lynn

[Guest greytexplorer]

sounds like link is getting excellent care and that you are doing wonderful things for him. you're both in my thoughts

 

my thoughts exactly!

Link is so lucky to have you for his parents! You have given him a greyt home, with tons of love, scritches, plently of food and access to fabulous medical care! Goodness, if I come back as a greyhound, I would want YOU to adopt ME!

 

and to all from Birmingham AL