What can you do after you’re diagnosed with heart failure?
Congestive Heart Failure is a condition in which your heart is unable to send sufficient fresh blood for the body’s needs.When someone is diagnosed with this condition, their first reaction is a mix of shock, disbelief and fear. And for understandable reasons. The term “heart failure” itself is enough for anyone to worry for his or her life. Your first instinct would be to worry about how long one could live with this condition.What can you do? The very first thing is to improve the obvious lifestyle factors – quit smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, get some exercise, eat healthier, etc. But that, you already know.Could there be something fundamentally wrong with the way heart disease and its ultimate chronic result, Congestive Heart Failure is currently seen and treated?According to an increasing band of M.D.s who are leading the charge to help people address the root cause, the answer is a resounding Yes!Check out this excellent article for ways to improve life expectancy with CHF.
What should I expect in the end stages of Heart Disease in my dog?
Sadly, it’s a progressive disease and at some point, even medications may no longer work, although vets may suggest adjustments and additions. When I worked for the vet, I recall dog owners claiming that their dogs have shortness of breath, lost their appetite and had a relentless cough which made them very uncomfortable.Sometimes, affected dogs had a history of coughing and collapsing and they would accumulate fluids in their abdomen due to the heart no longer doing its job. Their quality of life declined to the point where euthanasia was elected.There are several things that can be done to make dogs more comfortable, although only to a certain point. So sorry for your dog’s diagnosis.End Stages of Heart Failure in Dogs - Dogs Health Problems
What is the life expectancy of a dog with liver disease?
It depends on the stage of the liver disease. Animal doesn’t show any symptoms of liver disease if the damage is <70–80%. Yes, you didn’t read it wrong. Below 70–80% of damages animals would still look normal.This is because liver’s cells (hepatocytes) could heal themselves very fast if there are some damages.But, if the disease has gotten severe, without proper treatmets, a dog can’t have long life expectation because some toxins would intoxicate the dog’s body (liver is a detoxifier organ) → correct me if I am wrong with this, ya!There are some enzymes native to hepatocytes that can be found in blood serum if there are liver damages, three of them that are ‘famous’ are :ALT (Alanine Transaminase) or SGPT (Serum Glutamic Pyruvate Transferase) → used to check small animal (cat, dog, etc) liver damageSDH (Sodium Dehydrogenase) → mainly used to check large animal (cow, sheep, etc) liver damageAST (Aspartate Transaminase) or SGOT (Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transferase) → this enzyme is located inside hepatocyte’s mitochondria, if this enzyme exist in high amount in the serum, that means the damage is very, very high.You can check your dog’s liver condition to the nearest Veterinarian Hospital to check the amount of SGPT and SGOT inside your dog’s serum.Get well soon:)
What is the life expectancy of dogs with enlarged hearts?
Depending on the type of heart disease and severity, including whether the problem was picked up sooner.A good echocardiogram scan would be ideal. alot of diuretic drugs in the market prescribed by vets, help reduce load on the heart. also Pimobendan when started early in dogs (once diagnosed with cardiac failure) has been proven to prolong lifespan. used commonly in dilated cardiomyopathy and mitral valve disease.with treatment initiated early, some dogs can go on for a year or longer. some just a few months. depends on severity.
What happens if a heart disease patient recently got to know he has type 2 diabetes also?
Well, the sad commentary about diabetes is that it is a circulatory disease as well as a “sugar” disease.My guess is that hardening of the arteries is going on way before you become a true diabetic. Even doctors have acknowledged two pre-conditions (insulin resistance and prediabetes) before they paste you with the term DIABETIC.The military has found atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in soldiers in their 20’s. Some of that can be explained by drawing a bad genetic card from your parents and some may be explained if you are predestined towards diabetes by having a family member have it.Some will argue that Type II diabetes is just a wear and tear disease. As you age, things don’t work as well as when you were 30. Joints have to be replaced, Diets and exercise have to replace normal eating … Pills for your pecker, that snapped to attention inappropriately at thirty, like a dog at the dinner table.But my OPINION is that the pancreas is the “canary in the mine” … it shows what has been going on for years … hardening and narrowing of the arteries which makes the heart work harder to pump blood. Rarely does a diabetic die from insulin reactions or hyperglycemia … a diabetic has other organs that are also in a slow decline from poor circulation. The kidneys are next to go for two reasons … high sugar makes treating infections hard to control. Bladder infections are easy for the diabetic to get and loss of sensation may mute the symptoms … undetected UTI’s can progress to the kidney. Secondly, higher blood pressure can affect kidney function. The heart is affected by all the rough surfaces in the arteries and gets a blood clot (heart attack).Diabetics don’t die from high sugar … they die from the degradation of the circulatory system which degrades the nervous system and that can affect any and all organ systems. It may be exacerbated by higher sugars … but even a well managed diabetic will have circulatory problems … just further down the road of life.We all have a degree of atherosclerosis going on in our sedentary lives … diabetics just have a faster rate towards old age problems.
My dog has CHF (Congestive Heart Failure) what can I expect?
My 13 year old Pekingese/Chihuahua mix was diagnosed with CHF almost 3 weeks ago. He's had a heart murmur for years and developed a cough a few months ago; both symptoms were being monitored by his vets. Then one day I noticed he was breathing fast and shallow and its CFH. It seems so sudden and really advanced. I guess I thought it would be a slower decline? We started him on Flourosamide(?) to help with the fluid in his lungs. The following week we put him on Enalpril(?) for his heart. These meds seemed to be working. Then this past weekend I noticed his breathing was fast and shallow again. We have upped his flourosamide dosage and he seems to be doing better again. His eating is fine, even though I understand that the meds can lessen the appetite. He seems happy even though he tires quickly and has lost weight and muscle mass. So I'm not sure what to expect. Any info would be appreciated? Does anyone else have past or present experiences with this?
Dachshund diagnosed with congestive heart failure. What can I expect?
My dachshund is about 11-years-old and has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and the vet said he probably only had a few years at very best. He is on four pills a day, but we definitely have noticed some changes in his energy level. He has a terrible cough, and wheezing, especially at night or when he gets excited. He'll have what sound like asthma attacks, and barely be able to walk. I'm always afraid he's going to pass right in front of me. Sometimes he'll just cough up a clearish fluid, and that seems to help his cough. I just want to know if anyone else had a dog with CHF and what I should expect, how much worse will it get? How long do you think he has?
Does heart disease in dogs get progressively worse?
There are a few different types of heart disease, so yes talking with the vet is what you should be doing. No one can narrow it down to what is going on. Make sure to ask the vet to do a blood test. What you have described really can be a number of things, could be associated with the heart, could be something to do with the nerves, the immune system...really anything Until you see one, make up a journal of everything that is going on, even write down things that to you may not seem important..you never know they very well could be.
Experiences with dogs and heart failure?
My Papillon Jay was diagnosed with an enlarged heart, was put on meds for it, and died less than a month later. My heart is still aching for him. Three weeks ao, my older Papillon Cricket was diagnosed with a moderate heart murmer. She, too is on meds, (enalapril and lasix). So far so good for her, but I live in fear of losing her the same way I did Jay. I wish you the best with your girl.
Found out my dog has a heart murmur..?
I took my dog to the vet yesterday and he said he noticed a heart murmur. A year ago my dog got so sick he almost died from leptoseriosis. His kidneys and liver were failing because of an infection. It put a lot of stress on him and once he recovered he mellowed out a lot. The vet is pretty sure he developed heart problems from that illness. He is only 6 years old and is a beagle pitbull mix. Just wondering if anyone else has had a dog with a murmur and what should I expect? Obviously he will most likely die of heart failure but what should I watch for? He's still in good overall health except that so when is enough for him? Down the road when will I know that its too much for him. Im looking for someone who's had a dog with a heart condition before I just want to know what to expect.