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(Pre) Congestive Heart Failure

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  • #1

    (Pre) Congestive Heart Failure

    Hi,

    My ~11 year old Dane, Blue, was diagnosed with a heart murmur a week and a half ago. I immediately knew this likely meant congestive heart failure. We had x-rays done and things looked pretty good.

    Yesterday I took him to another vet for more tests and they performed an ultrasound on his heart. And while his heart is "OK" for now, he is showing signs of CHF (I don't have the paper work with me right now so unfortunately I don't have all the details). Even though he is not technically in heart failure, the vet wants to go ahead and start him on Vetmedin.

    Has anyone else been in this situation where your dog was not in CHF but started the medicine anyway? If so, how did this work out?

    I'm hoping to help Blue maintain his current level at worst (he still walks (runs even), eats, plays - even at 11) for as long as possible so I'm looking for maybe foods or supplements that might have some heart benefits. Does anyone have any advice on what might or might not help (if even in theory)?

    My plan has always been to help my Danes to hit the 15 year mark (as long as they're happy that is). So any advice would be welcome.

    Thanks for reading.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Co Enzyme Q10 100 mg a day and Hawthorn berry capsules are good for the heart. The adult dose on Hawthorn. It's usually one capsule twice a day.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by CarolB View Post
      Co Enzyme Q10 100 mg a day and Hawthorn berry capsules are good for the heart. The adult dose on Hawthorn. It's usually one capsule twice a day.
      I will check those out. Thank you...

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      • #4
        This article seems like it might have some good information. I see the two supplements listed previously are mentioned. Does anyone with more knowledge on the subject have any opinions?

        http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/iss...es/5443-1.html

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        • #5
          Just a quick update in case anyone is in this situation. We took Blue for an ultrasound yesterday and the vet is almost amazed at how well his heart looks. I think he said the contractility was down to 20% when we first took him in and after a few months on vetmedin, he is back in the 30% or so range which apparently is almost normal. His murmur is currently around a 2.

          So far, so good. I'm hoping since we caught the issue before he started showing signs of CHF it means we'll be able to control it longer than normal. Who knows how these things will go though. I've always said I wanted to get my Danes to 15, but with Blue being 11, I think a couple more years would be incredible.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by alsdomain View Post
            Just a quick update in case anyone is in this situation. We took Blue for an ultrasound yesterday and the vet is almost amazed at how well his heart looks. I think he said the contractility was down to 20% when we first took him in and after a few months on vetmedin, he is back in the 30% or so range which apparently is almost normal. His murmur is currently around a 2.

            So far, so good. I'm hoping since we caught the issue before he started showing signs of CHF it means we'll be able to control it longer than normal. Who knows how these things will go though. I've always said I wanted to get my Danes to 15, but with Blue being 11, I think a couple more years would be incredible.
            Are you doing any supplements or just the vetmedin?
            sigpic
            Chaucey
            Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

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            • #7
              Originally posted by oshagcj914 View Post
              Are you doing any supplements or just the vetmedin?
              I give him fish oil twice a day along with vitamin E, Hawthorn Berry and CoQ10 once a day. I don't have the exact doses at the moment but I can add them later today if you're curious.

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              • #8
                I haven't been on the forum for a while but I wanted to see if there was anything on CHF because I read that it is common among Great Danes. My Archie is a Great Dane/Lab mix and my vet did notice a heart murmur a year or so ago - did not prescribe anything but explained symptoms I should look for etc. He'd been doing well but a couple months ago I noticed his breathing was getting "gurgly" and he just didn't seem right so made an appointment.

                Long story short he does have CHF and is now on Vetmedin, Enalapril and Furosemide. My vet did say that a study just came out that says Vetmedin should be given as soon as there is a sign of a heart problem and said she wished the study had come out earlier.

                He is only going to be about 9 in December (he's a rescue so could be a little older or younger) so I'm really hoping we got it started soon enough and hoping his next checkup is as good as Blue's was

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by DaneAndLab View Post
                  I haven't been on the forum for a while but I wanted to see if there was anything on CHF because I read that it is common among Great Danes. My Archie is a Great Dane/Lab mix and my vet did notice a heart murmur a year or so ago - did not prescribe anything but explained symptoms I should look for etc. He'd been doing well but a couple months ago I noticed his breathing was getting "gurgly" and he just didn't seem right so made an appointment.

                  Long story short he does have CHF and is now on Vetmedin, Enalapril and Furosemide. My vet did say that a study just came out that says Vetmedin should be given as soon as there is a sign of a heart problem and said she wished the study had come out earlier.

                  He is only going to be about 9 in December (he's a rescue so could be a little older or younger) so I'm really hoping we got it started soon enough and hoping his next checkup is as good as Blue's was
                  Sorry to hear that, but hopefully you got it started early enough for the best results. He was really 50/50 on starting the vetmedin so early on but was surprised with the results.

                  I'm replying on my phone so it's hard to see if I mentioned it, but we did a checkup after 1 month where his heart seemed to be the same. This last checkup was 3 months after the 1st and 4 months after we started vetmedin.

                  When is Archies next checkup?

                  Are you using coq10 too? Our vet has heard good things about it. So I'd suggest asking about it if you haven't already. I honestly don't know if Blue's results are solely due to the vetmedin, how early it was started or has something to do with the supplements, but it wouldn't hurt to check them out.

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                  • #10
                    The vet wanted to see him 3 months after we were last in so very soon.

                    I have not heard of Coq10 but I will definitely ask my vet about it, thanks for the tip.

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