Dog's heart. What is heart failure in a dog? Main symptoms and correct treatment

A big heart beats in the chest of any dog, which is filled with love and devotion to its owners. But, unfortunately, our pets are increasingly diagnosed with diseases of the cardiovascular system, complicating and shortening their lives.

How to understand that your dog has a heart problem, what to do about it, how to treat it, how long do dogs with heart disease live? We will try to answer these questions as fully and accessible as possible.

Dog heart, what is it?

The heart of dogs is a hollow organ made up of muscles, the main of which is called the myocardium. The heart has an inner shell - the endocardium, and outside it is covered by an outer shell - the epicardium. In addition, it is placed in a special heart sac or pericardium, which protects the body's "main pump" from shocks, shocks, infections and contact with other organs.

The heart is divided into two ventricles and two atria, while there is a common valve between the right atrium and the ventricle, the second valve is located between the left atrium and the ventricle. The third valve connects the left ventricle and the aorta leaving it, and the fourth valve is located between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.

The task of all four valves is to organize the movement of blood through the heart in only one direction.

We have outlined the anatomy of the canine heart to give you an idea of ​​why heart disease occurs in dogs.

What heart diseases are diagnosed in dogs?

Heart problems in dogs are divided into congenital and acquired during life. Congenital heart diseases are the result of:

  • Incorrect intrauterine development, resulting in the formation of a heart disease in a dog.
  • Complications from an infectious disease that the bitch suffered during pregnancy.
  • Genetic predisposition of certain breeds to heart disease.

Congenital heart pathologies make themselves felt already at an early age (up to one year) and have a not very good prognosis for survival. If the defect is small, then it may practically not manifest itself in any way during life, and only at the examination in the clinic, the doctor will hear a heart murmur in the dog. Puppies with serious cardiac problems may experience the following symptoms:

  • lethargy, drowsiness;
  • poor appetite;
  • shortness of breath and cough after active games and jogging;
  • breathing with an open mouth;
  • bluish mucous membranes;
  • sudden fainting.


Can congenital heart disease in dogs be cured? For minor defects, the doctor can prescribe maintenance drug therapy courses and restriction of motor activity, and your dog will live with his illness for many years. In the case of a serious pathology, the prognosis is most often sad, since heart surgery on a dog can only be performed by a cardiac surgeon, who are very few in veterinary medicine.

Signs of the disease and methods of treatment

Let's look at what are acquired heart diseases in dogs, their symptoms and treatments.

One of the most common problems is heart failure in adult dogs. Such a pathology occurs as a result of the fact that the heart can no longer fully perform its pumping functions, and blood begins to linger in the lungs, causing them to swell.

A typical symptom of pathology is the so-called heart cough. The causes of such a cough are irritation of the bronchi with accumulated fluid.

At first, the signs of heart failure are not very pronounced - the dog develops shortness of breath during active games or at elevated air temperatures. Over time, the situation begins to worsen, and the dog begins to get tired very quickly, breathes heavily even after a small load, his gums and nose turn pale, his tongue turns blue.

At the next stage of the disease, the dog develops a heart cough. At first, the animal coughs infrequently, but then there are long attacks, during which the dog chokes on a cough. This symptom suggests that your pet has developed a severe stage of heart failure.

Owners need to understand that it is necessary to consult a doctor at the first sign of illness, as this will help prolong the life of their pet. Heart failure is a chronic disease, so the dog will be prescribed lifelong medication to normalize the heart and diuretics to reduce pulmonary edema.


Depending on the severity of the condition, the veterinarian selects therapy individually for each animal.

It will be necessary to reconsider the lifestyle of your pet, now he will be recommended short walks, not too active games, a certain diet and the elimination of stressful situations.

What is cardiomyopathy in dogs?

The cardiovascular system of a dog, when functioning properly, provides the supply of all organs with blood and nutrients, which allows the animal to live and develop normally. However, the anatomy of the heart muscles can change with age, as well as due to complications after viral, bacterial infections.

The pathological transformation of the heart muscles is called cardiomyopathy.

There are several types of cardiomyopathy:

  • Hypertrophic, in which the dog's heart is enlarged. It is considered the most "light" type of disease, since proportional hypertrophy of all the walls of the ventricles and atria occurs, that is, the heart increases evenly. But in order for such a large heart to work well, the dog needs to spend more strength and energy, which are not very much in older dogs. In addition, it puts pressure on nearby organs and receives less nutrition and oxygen, which can lead to a heart attack.
  • With a dilated form, stretching and atrophy of the myocardium occurs, as a result of which the heart cannot contract normally and push blood through the vessels.
  • The restrictive form is characterized by the formation of fibrous tissue in the thickness of the heart wall, which interferes with the normal contractility of the dog's heart.
  • With a mixed form, a combination of all the above types of cardiomyopathy is possible.


As we have already mentioned, the reasons for the development of cardiomyopathies are infectious diseases, complications after inflammatory diseases, heartworms, as well as serious nutritional errors, in which there is a lack of vitamins E, B12, and selenium in food.

The main symptoms of cardiomyopathy include:

  • asthma attacks;
  • hoarse breathing;
  • heart cough;
  • heartache;
  • palpitations;
  • swelling;
  • fast fatigue;
  • cyanosis of the mucous membranes;
  • weight loss;
  • apathetic behavior of the animal.

The manifestation of such symptoms should force the owner to contact the veterinarian with the dog as soon as possible. After the research, the doctor will prescribe medications for your pet, which he will take throughout his life.

Most often, digoxin is prescribed to maintain the work of the heart, which prevents atrial fibrillation, and procainamide to regulate gastric extrasystoles. To eliminate fluid stagnation in the body, diuretics are used, in particular furosemide. The use of enzymes, such as L-carnitine, helps to increase myocardial nutrition in order to prevent heart attacks.

In addition to drug therapy, it is important to correctly calculate the physical activity for the dog and make a diet in such a way that it contains a minimum amount of salt and fat, but a lot of protein and vitamins.

Myocarditis

Inflammatory and infectious diseases can cause another type of heart disease in a dog - myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle.


The impetus for the development of myocarditis can be some infections, intoxication of the body with poisons or an excess of drugs, trauma to the heart with broken ribs.

The disease can manifest itself with the following symptoms:

  • violation of the heart rhythm;
  • dry cough;
  • weakness of the dog;
  • hard breath;
  • temperature rise.

Treatment is prescribed according to the cause of myocarditis.

Endocarditis

If the cause of endocarditis is an infection, then the dog has a sharp hyperthermia and signs of heart failure - shortness of breath, heart murmurs, weakening of the heart impulse, against which pulmonary edema may develop, fraught with the death of the animal.

In the case of endocarditis, it is important for the doctor to decide how to support the dog's heart during the illness and prescribe adequate therapy. In parallel, the treatment of pathology that affected the work of the heart is also carried out.

myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction is a dangerous disease, as a result of which the blood supply to any part of the myocardium is stopped and after that it dies. The consequence of such a pathology is a violation of the work of the whole organism, up to the death of the dog.

For the clinical picture of a heart attack, severe pain in the chest area, panic in the dog, a sharp change in the color of the mucous membranes. The prognosis of survival in dogs with a heart attack depends on the size of the affected area of ​​the myocardium, the age and general condition of the animal.


How are heart conditions diagnosed and treated?

Diagnosis of heart disease in dogs is similar to human diagnosis and includes:

  • conducting blood and urine tests;
  • electrocardiography;
  • echocardiography.

The results obtained are carefully studied by a veterinary cardiologist, who selects certain drugs for each patient, develops an individual treatment schedule, paints a diet and gives recommendations on the animal's lifestyle.

Surgery in the treatment of heart disease in dogs is very rarely used, as it is an expensive and underdeveloped area of ​​veterinary medicine.

We hope this article will help owners recognize heart problems in their pets at an early stage, when there are still ways to help the dog, and keep their heart racing for years to come!

Heart failure can appear in a dog not only in old age, it happens that the first signs of the disease are visible long before the appearance of irreversible processes. If the disease can be noticed at the initial stage, the treatment will be effective.

Chronic heart failure develops slowly. Often its development takes place against the background of infectious diseases.

Symptoms of the chronic form are often invisible, the pet only has a cough, which the owner does not pay attention to.

Acute heart failure progresses rapidly, sometimes within hours or even minutes.

The acute form can lead to the instantaneous development of pulmonary edema, the symptoms of which are blood from the mouth and nose, and a strong cough.

Reasons for development

The cause of heart failure can be congenital heart anomalies in a dog, hormonal disorders, stress, metabolic disorders due to malnutrition, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Heartworms can completely block an artery, causing an attack that can be fatal.

First symptoms

In most cases, symptoms of heart failure can be seen in dogs older than six years of age. But some breeds are more prone to heart disease and the first signs of problems may appear at an earlier age.

First of all, these are representatives of large breeds, for example, St. Bernards, Great Danes, Newfoundlands. Heart problems in large dogs arise due to physical inactivity, that is, a sedentary lifestyle.

Representatives of small breeds, such as a chihuahua or a toy terrier, develop heart disease due to increased emotionality.

The owner should be alerted by fatigue and shortness of breath: the dog needs more time to restore breathing after running or playing. Over time, shortness of breath will appear in a calm state. Therefore, you need to regularly monitor the respiratory rate of an adult dog during sleep.

Another alarming symptom is a regular cough, which will appear more and more often as the disease progresses.

A chronic debilitating cough in a dog indicates serious heart problems.

Other symptoms:

  • loss of appetite;
  • strong thirst;
  • cyanosis of the tongue during physical exertion;
  • loss of consciousness.

These signs indicate the need for urgent treatment to the veterinary clinic. If after an attack the dog is cheerful and active, then this is not a reason to refuse to consult a veterinarian.

Diagnosis and treatment

Heart failure in dogs needs a professional diagnosis by a veterinary cardiologist. To clarify the diagnosis, the doctor may prescribe blood and urine tests, chest X-ray, ECG, ultrasound of the heart.

Treatment should be carried out under the constant supervision of a veterinarian-cardiologist.

Medical therapy includes:

  • Diuretic drugs to remove excess fluid, relieve swelling and unload the cardiovascular system.
  • ACE inhibitors, which dilate blood vessels and reduce the workload on the heart.
  • Positive inotropes to normalize heart rate.

In rare cases, to relieve internal edema, the doctor may prescribe a pumping out of excess fluid. The procedure is performed with a sterile needle under local anesthesia.

  • reduce physical activity;
  • eliminate salt intake;
  • daily measure and record in the diary the pulse and breathing rate of the dog;
  • take your dog to the vet regularly.

Prevention of heart problems in dogs

To prevent heart failure, dog owners need to calculate physical activity depending on the breed and age of the pet. Moreover, it is important to alternate games and walks with rest. That is, the dog needs to actively move several times a day, and not once in large numbers.

If the animal is on a natural diet, it is important to eliminate foods high in salt and fat, making up a balanced diet that will include all the vitamins the pet needs.

Regular visits to the veterinarian will help avoid heart problems. Even if the pet looks healthy, it should be shown to the veterinarian once a year, so you can notice the disease at an early stage and start treatment on time.

The well-being of all mammals, including dogs, depends on the work of the main "motor" of the body. The heart can fail not only old dogs, as is commonly believed. Often, heart disease puts an end to the lives of young animals. So, let's learn about them in detail.

Congestive heart failure

Pathology is characterized by the fact that the main organ of the circulatory system cannot cope with pumping blood. The result of this is stagnation. This disease is more common in older dogs. It may be due to infectious diseases. The clinical picture of the disease is characterized by a sagging and bloated abdomen due to dropsy of the abdominal cavity; hoarse breathing, sometimes accompanied by gurgling; fainting due to oxygen deficiency in the tissues; drastic weight loss.

In the treatment of the disease, veterinarians use drugs that support the heart rhythm. Diuretics are prescribed to eliminate excess fluid, multivitamins. It is recommended to follow a diet, frequent, but short walks.

Myocarditis

The cause of this pathology may be the action of fungi and viruses, drugs and poisons. Myocarditis can develop as a consequence of rib fracture. The clinical picture of the disease is manifested by a constant dry cough; pronounced arrhythmia; rapid fatigue of the dog; breathing difficulties; apathy and weakness.

myocardial infarction

Even in dogs, this common disease is common. It is fraught with serious consequences for the body, including death. A heart attack is a cessation of blood supply to certain parts of the heart muscle. In such a zone of the organ, the cells die, necrosis develops. When the affected part of the myocardium is small, there are chances to save the dog, but otherwise death cannot be avoided.

Symptoms of a heart attack in dogs are severe pain as a result of any impact in the area of ​​the left elbow bend, panic attacks. The dog begins to rush around the corners, hide, his mucous membranes become bluish. If the heart is listened to, an increase in the cardiac border is detected. Treatment of myocardial infarction is symptomatic, carried out under the supervision of a physician, based on a low-carbohydrate diet.

Myocardosis

Like myocarditis, this is also a disease of the striated muscles of the heart, only its cause is not inflammatory. Myocardosis is characterized by degenerative and dystrophic changes in the heart tissue with loss of its functionality. There is an assumption that its cause is a violation of carbohydrate or protein metabolism. Veterinary statistics show that 34% of dogs after myocarditis were found to have myocardosis. That is why the symptoms of both ailments are similar. Only with myocardosis, the symptoms are blurred, because the pathology progresses slowly. However, in this case, the process of degradation of myocardial tissue is irreversible, and the pet is simply doomed. So, signs of such a heart disease are sagging skin, shortness of breath, cyanosis of the mucous membranes, increased venous pressure, poor pulse severity, and a decrease in the intensity of heart contraction. Therapy and in this case is appointed supporting. Dogs need rest and quality food.

According to statistics, diseases of the cardiovascular system occupy a leading position among diseases of non-communicable etiology and are the main cause of death (43%). Allocate diseases that have developed against the background of congenital malformations and acquired. Congenital malformations appear very early and account for only 2.4% of the total number of cardiovascular pathologies. Dogs with congenital malformations of the cardiovascular system do not live long. Frequent causes of premature death of old animals are acquired diseases: cardiomyopathy (23%), lesions of the atrioventricular valve cusps (11%).

The symptoms of a disease of the cardiovascular system in an animal are divided into four main groups:
- syndrome of left ventricular failure and stagnation in the pulmonary circulation - cough, shortness of breath, cyanosis, pulmonary edema;
- syndrome of right ventricular failure and stagnation in the systemic circulation - ascites, hydrothorax, peripheral, edema;
- vascular insufficiency syndrome - anemia of the mucous membranes, capillary filling rate (CNC) more than 3 seconds;
- cardiac arrhythmia syndrome - tendency to collapse, Morgagni-Edems-Stokes epileptiform seizures, pulse wave arrhythmia, pulse deficit.

However, in about 50% of animals with cardiovascular disorders, the only symptom detected is a chronic cough.

Non-closure of the ductus arteriosus. Of congenital pathologies, it occurs most often (30%). A feature of the fetal circulation is the presence of the ductus botulinum between the pulmonary artery and the descending part of the aorta, through which blood is drained from non-functioning lungs. With the first breath of the animal botall, the duct collapses and becomes obliterated (overgrown) within 8-10 days, turning into an arterial ligament. If the duct is not blocked, they speak of an anomaly of development.

The narrowing is valvular or subvalvular, when the ring of valve leaflets or the space under it is narrowed along the outflow path from the right ventricle of the heart.

This defect in dogs is usually asymptomatic. Sometimes in puppies it is accidentally detected by a characteristic high-frequency noise with a maximum intensity of audibility at the left cranial border of the sternum. Find x-ray changes. In the dorsoventral projection, the deviation of the entire shadow of the heart to the right and the expansion of the main trunk of the pulmonary artery are noticeable. The latter looks like a protrusion of the shadow of the heart at the "1 o'clock" position. Most dogs show signs of fatigue only after many years, they have fainting, ascites, liver enlargement.

Treatment. If up to 6 months there are no signs of progressive expansion of the heart, then the dog will live its term. In cases where the symptoms of the disease increase, the dog should limit exercise and prescribe a long-term use of digoxin. With ascites, furosemide is additionally prescribed, laparocentesis is performed.

Stenosis of the aortic mouth. This is the third most common congenital defect (15%), almost always manifesting as a subvalvular malformation in the form of a fibromuscular pressure ring under the valve. It occurs in Boxers, German Shepherds, and Labradors, and tends to be inherited in Newfoundlands.

The diagnosis is usually made at the first examination of the puppy. A low ascending-decreasing systolic murmur is heard best at the border of the sternum on the right in the fourth intercostal space. The obstructed outflow of blood from the left ventricle leads to a weak, delayed pulse in the thigh. Sometimes they listen to the noise over the carotid artery, feel the trembling of the chest (“cat's purr”) at the entrance to its cavity and in the place of maximum audibility of the noise. Puppies with aortic stenosis lag behind in growth, quickly get tired. With the expansion of the left ventricle and decompensation of cardiac activity, arrhythmia, fainting, and sudden death may occur. On radiographs in the lateral projection, a sharp expansion of the aortic arch is noted, the loss of the waist of the heart along the anterior contour of the shadow due to protrusion of the aorta forward. In the dorso-ventral projection, the anterior mediastinum and the left ventricle of the heart are dilated. Possible alveolar pulmonary edema.

The disease can be asymptomatic, and many puppies die at an early age.

Treatment. In mild cases, no treatment is required. Consistent, non-severe training exercises can help slow the progression of left ventricular decompensation and reduce the chance of life-threatening arrhythmia caused by myocardial ischemia. With moderate severity of the disease, anaprilin is prescribed 3 times a day. It contributes to the complete contraction of the ventricle of the heart and its better emptying, increases blood flow in the coronary arteries, delaying the onset of arrhythmias. With congestion in the lungs, in addition, a salt-free diet, diuretics and aminophylline are prescribed. Digoxin is recommended only as a last resort.

Anomaly in the development of the aortic arch. Diverticulum of the esophagus. In the process of ontogenesis, the transition from the branchial to the pulmonary circulation in the fetus occurs with the formation of six pairs of aortic arches, which then transform into the arteries of the small (pulmonary) and large (systemic) circulations. The formation of the aortic arch is normally associated with the transformation of the left fourth aortic arch. With an anomaly of development, the aorta develops from the right fourth aortic arch. As a result, the aorta is not located to the left of the esophagus, but to the right. The ductus botalis, which runs from the aortic arch to the pulmonary artery, in this case pulls the esophagus in a ring. When the puppy eats thick bulky food, it will accumulate in the precordial part of the esophagus, which leads to the formation of a diverticulum.

Sick puppies lag behind in development, their weight decreases. After almost every feeding, they burp undigested food. Diagnosis is based on contrast esophagography.

Technique of contrast esophagography. The animal is allowed to swallow 50 ml of a thick suspension of barium sulfate in water and immediately take two pictures covering the chest and neck in frontal and lateral projections. On the radiograph in the lateral projection, a precordial dilatation of the esophagus is noticeable. At the same time, the right-sided location of the aorta is visible in the dorsoventral projection.

This developmental anomaly must be differentiated from mega-esophagus and esophageal achalasia, which are characterized by the expansion of the esophageal tube all the way up to the diaphragm. The prognosis for timely treatment is favorable.

Treatment. Only surgery is possible. The course of the operation is the same as for the closure of the persistent ductus arteriosus. The arterial ligament that pulls the esophagus is ligated and dissected. In this case, it is much easier, since the duct is almost always obliterated, and the ligament is longer than usual. The operation is completed by applying tightening serous-muscular plastic sutures to the expanded wall of the esophagus.

Similar posts