<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="MS Exchange Server version 08.00.0681.000">
<TITLE>CARDIOMYOPATHY VS HEART MURMURS</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Caridomyopathy is</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">translated as</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">“</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">heart weakness</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">”</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">. Dilated cardiomyopathy is</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> the most common form, with most patients having an enlarged heart with thin walls</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> which reduces the heart function. Cardiomyopathy may lead to congestive heart failure in which the heart is not able pump the blood adequately.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> When this happends, blood pools in vital organs, causing swelling and the patient becomes weak, fatigued and has difficulty breath</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">ing. Cardiomyopathy may also lead to</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">arrhythmias</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">. An undetected</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">arrhythmia is deadly. They dog can have an arrhythmia in their sleep and the heart cannot</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">“</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">reset</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">”</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> itself and the dog dies within a couple of minutes.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> There are some medications that can help with cardiomyopathy but not all dogs can tolerate them. We had a young bitch (age</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">5) who suddenly developed cardiomyopathy, we got her on the medication but she didn</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">t tolerate it and became deathly ill. When we got the drug purged from her system, she was okay for</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">a month or so. Then one day, she was sleeping on the patio in the sun</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">…</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> and never woke up. She had an</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">arrhythmia</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">while sleeping and died.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Heart murmurs are an entirely different thing. The vast majority of heart murmurs are a result of leaky heart valve. B</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">ecause</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri"> the valve doesn</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">’</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">t</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT FACE="Calibri">close properly, the heart is never able to completely clear that chamber of the heart. There is medication that can help the heart work more efficie</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">ntly.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Sandi Wittenberg</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Calibri">Red Bay Bassets</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN></P>
</BODY>
</HTML>