[Dailydrool] Heart Murmur Questions

[Kathy Collins]

I'm a long-time lurker (13+ years), rare poster.  We've just found out
Jasper has a heart murmur and I'm hoping others here who have
experienced this with their hound(s) can inform me. Jasper started
coughing infrequently. It continued to be more frequent and progressed
to a pattern of 3 to 4 coughs, and a wretch every hour or so. He was
bringing up phlegm, but since being on furosemide (20 mg "once or twice
a day"-he needs 2) the cough is dry (still followed by a wretch) and
noticeably less frequent.

Jasper will be 11 in July. He's been healthy up until now with the
exception of some allergy issues and a bad knee. He was a rescue at 6
months. My role was to just pick him up for the rescue, but he stayed.
He was severely underweight , shoulders like a komono dragon, and ribs
that were s-shaped/caved due to malnutrition or over-crating, perhaps
both.

The x-ray shows an enlarged heart, not horribly enlarged yet round
rather than the shape it should be. The vet said the heart appears to be
resting on the sternum more than they like to see (along with the caved
ribs he has a sternum positioned oddly). She remarked about the ribs and
said he looks like Gumby inside.

We've been referred to Cornell University in NY. Being a kid that grew
up in 4-H, I know Cornell is an exceptional facility so I'm not worried
about that.  We'll be getting an ultrasound. We're told they'll probably
want to do their own x-rays and probably some bloodwork. Since the
furosemide is working ok at this point, she didn't want to load him up
on it as she wants his bloodwork to be as clean as possible.  She felt
he is at grade 2 to 2-1/2. I understand the ultrasound will tell us
exactly where he is as well as why he has the murmur and what the best
meds will be. She told us that she could give him cardiac meds but it
would be basically just taking a "shot in the dark" although she
understood someone not wanting or not being able to afford the testing
and was willing to help us that way, if we so choose.

I should mention his lungs are clear but he does have what they term
"old dog" lungs.  We've decided to do the ultrasound in the hopes of
getting a better idea of correct meds so he can have the best quality we
can give him. We're also hoping we can get an idea of how long he'll
have before this gets really bad.

I know this group are some of the few that understand the heart-ache of
watching our beloved pets age. The thought of what lies ahead just makes
me cry. But I want to be as informed as possible as to what to
expect...for him, for us, medically..and what to look for at the end.  I
know there's got to be people here who have gone through this. I'm
begging for you to share your experiences with me. The good, the bad and
the ugly.

Kathy



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