Congestive Heart Failure in dogs (how long did yours live after diagnosis)? (terriers, chihuahua)
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My dog was diagnosed Tuesday with a heart murmur and CHF. He had to see a different vet in the same clinic as his usual vet because she was not there that day. She did not put him on medication because his BUN was only slightly elevated and his heart mildly enlarged. 2 days later he was on his side with a fainting spell, took him back to the vet, this time he saw his regular vet and she said his heart murmur is now loud and he has had 1 other episode of fainting but not as severe as the first. Is is normal for a healthy Bichon (he is 16) to go from completely normal to this so suddenly. I am both confused and devastated.
When my chihuahua x mini foxy was 8 years old he suddenly started these little coughing fits. He always had some allergies so we didn't think much of it but he was due for a dental and they did a precautionary chest X-ray. The vet rang me in a panic to tell me he had a heart murmur and very enlarged heart. We immediately rushed him to a specialist for an EKG and ultrasound. I was told he had days to weeks to live. I was understandably devastated. Our little buddy was full of energy and actually quite crazy at times always wanting to play chasings and run around like a bit of a lunatic. I got a second opinion and was given a much better prognosis. He went into congestive heart failure over a year later and unfortunately only lived another 4 months. In those 4 months I noticed him slow down and his appetite decreased but he was really only sick with severe symptoms for about a week. In all that other time he had his big puppy eyes and would have happily played if he had the energy. That said his was a fairly rare case from what I understand. He had a very severe heart murmur (5/6 grade), mitral valve disease and had suffered a left atrial heart tear which is almost always immediately fatal. He battled on like a trooper and I'm grateful for every day we had with him.
There are some really good medications now that your vet can prescribe to extend your dogs life. From what I have heard from other dog owners is that they can live very comfortably with congestive heart failure for months to years provided you give them the right medications, keep them calm and never let them get overheated and feed them a good quality, low sodium diet. Some people swear by holistic remedies you can google but I wouldn't use these in place of medication. Supplements like taurine, fish oil and Vit E may be helpful.
I completely understand the confusion and devastation you feel. I basically grieved for over a year and a half before my dog even went into congestive heart failure. I was so afraid of losing him all the time I was quite neurotic and over protective. I hope I still managed to give him the best life possible. That is really all you can do. Even though your Bichon is healthy he is geriatric in dog years and I hate to say this but you cannot fight the forces of nature. As humans we fight against death and will do anything to avoid it. I do not believe animals view it the same way we do. I really hope you can get your little dog stabilised and enjoy his company for as long as possible. Cherish every moment you have left and don't grieve until it's time. Believe me there will be A LOT of time for that later. Just love him and keep him as comfortable as you can. Best of luck to you.
Sorry to hear about your dog I also have a 10 year old dog that has chf. He was diagnosed 3rd ago they gave him a year to live but he beat the odds up until 2 months ago. He started filling up with fluid in his abdomen. He was drained at lease once a week. Now it's at least every 4 to 5 days that he needs to be drained. My husband keeps getting him drained. This week will be the 14th time of being drained. I Believe even though are dog is eating and playing somewhat he should be put to rest. His breathing isn't that good. But my spouse will not let him go. I day he is being selfish with our pet. So any body out there that has a pet with chf if you know it's time do the right thing for the sake of your love for your animal.
My dog had conjestive heart failure and just yesterday I had to put her to sleep..she was a yorkie a wonderful loving dog. I noticed this condition last november 2013 and brought her to the vet.. I notice she was breathing heavy but thought it was the summer but wasnt. She was allergic to dog food so I use to cook for her all healthy food blended...until it was hard for her to eat ... then went to baby food which she reacted to great... although she was in the late stage...with shaking coughing wheezing and just could eat move in her final stage...and I could not see her going though this and had her put to sleep yesterday..I am broken hearted but I feel she is now in doggy heavenp peaceful..when people say you'll when know its time ...( I never understood that until yesterrday) when I saw her painful eyes I said thats it...I will not let my sweetheart go throught this...and even when I brought her to the vet ..he looked at her and said to me ...Its that time.
my dog who is 12 has been in heart failure for around 5 years he is on vetmedin cardalis furesimide and codeine for the cough it has worked well for him with an odd blip but he has been acting a bit strange the last few days, so am keeping an extra eye on him and if no improvement back to vets next week
My Cocker Spaniel is 15 years old and was just diagnoised with chf. She has been waking up at night gaging and coughing. The vet has detected a heart murmur. They did a xray and hear heart is enlarged to rib 7 to 8.
We just started giving her the medication vetmedin. what is a dogs life expectancy after this diagnosis?
My Chihuahua was diagnosed 2 years ago with RT-CHF. She is on Vetmedin, Enacard and Lasiz. Her coughing is minimal and the Lasix has been working on her fluid build up. She has lost all muscle tone but still eats, urinates and wags her tail a lot. The one thing she has done three times is faint and then she stops breathing. I have brought her back with CPR and mouth breaths. Does anyone else have this with their CHF pet?
A month ago, our 140 pound yellow lab, Sunny Delight,who is 7 years old, stopped eating, had a cough, and was tired when playing. He also "moaned" a lot. When we took him to the vet, his weight had dropped to 132. Normal heart rate for a big dog is between 70 and 100. His was 240. Our reg. vet suggested we take him for an EKG and further tests at a specialty clinic. We did that. They kept him overnight. We were told the next day that he had advanced congestive heart failure and would probably live less than a year on meds. It's been a month. He is back to eating canned food with a tiny bit of dry; plays a little bit....but what use to be fetching a ball 15-20 times in one span has decreased to 5-6 times; then he goes and rests. He moans and ends up sitting up to sleep against the cushion on our sofa in order to breathe easier. Because the Lasix make him pee more; he and his buddy (our black lab) have had to sleep in the garage on their dog beds, because he sleeps so sound that he pees in his sleep (or leaks). His tail wags constantly. The expense the first 3 days was almost $2,000. His meds total $240 a month. Talked with our vet and decided no more tests. That the extra testing just causes more stress on him. We just want him to be happy the remaining time he has with us. WE've stopped camping with him, because he loved to swim in the lake. Vet said that could be a problem....even just seeing the lake would be stressful to him. His one mile walks are now just around the backyard....though he still tries to chase the rabbits. So we wait....and we love on him all the time.
Kiko is my jack russell terrier and he died of having his lungs filled up with water, so he literally died drowning, even on land. This is called pulmonary edema (fluid in lungs) caused by Heart disease. Days ago when suddenly he couldn't stand up, we rushed him to the vet and the vet said he had a large heart. Last year his maintenance was furosemide and enalapril but since his condition got worse, he was given vetmedin, corditab in addition to the 2. Kiko was 8 years old. At the time I found him unable to stand though he wanted to, his belly area was really huge and heavy. Vet said that it actually wasn't has, it was a hard mass than tensed up due to pain from heart, kidney an lungs. He was given the meds , then he finally could stand and walk faster by the 3rd day after he couldn't. By that day, kiko had a lump on his shoulder and lots of jelly-like mass on his neck. We went to the bet again and they gave him antibiotics since it turns out that mass on his neck was pus. They manually removed it and it was a lot of pus. Kiko the next day was weak but was still able to eat and poop. After 2 days, he wouldn't stand up again. He had a hard time breathing and you could hear the heart murmur on a stethoscope. We divided to put him to sleep the following day since he was suffering so much, but turns out when I woke up he was already dead, with a bleeding neck, and I felt like he suffered when he died.
As I read through all of your stories, my heart breaks for all of You....and myself too as it is also my story and I am in the middle of it right now.
My wonderful Lucy, a terrier poodle mix, who will be 14 in January, always had a heart murmur and the vet over the years would say that it was something to watch and monitor which we did. Eventually 3 years ago Lucy started with a little cough that would end in a gag. She would cough once or twice and then gag after which she would go about her day feeling 100%
About two years ago...these coughs got worse and lasted a little longer but there were never any other symptoms. Vet said she was fine. Mitra valve issues, but no biggie.
6 weeks ago she had a coughing fit that lasted for over 5 minutes. It sounded different and she had 3 or 4 of these all in one afternoon. We took her to the vet who thought it might be kennel cough and she was put on antibiotics. The extended coughing fits were not quite as bad but it never went back to what it used to be.
About ten days ago the coughing sounded different again. Really dry and persistent. it also looked like she had gained a bit of weight. I was NOT familiar with CHD and so what looked like weight gain did not ring a bell for me when in fact it was fluid build up. We took her the vet who took an X-ray and she showed me Lucy's enlarged heart and an accumulation of fluid around the lungs. Also, her enlarged heart was pressing on her trachea. The vet put Lucy on Furosemide and ordered an ultrasound from a Cardiac vet specialist for a week down the road.
That week was really hard. Lucy was not feeling well at all. Finally we took her in for the ultrasound and my vet reported back to me: Lucy has sudden onset, severe CHF with an enlarged heart, and fluid around the lungs and chest cavity. both heart valves were/are compromised.
This news is so completely devastating!
It has been 3 days now since she has been on meds. FUROSEMIDE, PIMOBENDED and ENALAPRIL. Her coughing has subsided and is not as severe. She is doing well. Peeing A LOT... She is still eating, still enjoying her routine and sleeping through the night. She does not look like she is in pain or having trouble breathing. we go back in ten days for an overall check up to see how she is tolerating the meds.
With her age alone being a factor, I have been so aware in the last year that her time is near and that was without any heart issues. Now, With this diagnosis...I know what is coming and it is coming soon. I don't want her to go through any of the late stage symptoms. This is tearing me apart. I don't think it is imminent ...... but I think I am looking at 3 to 9 months.
I mentioned that the vet said it was 'sudden onset severe' which she did not explain to me but I have read now what that means. I have read that the speed of the on set deterioration is an indictor of how long your dog might have. The more sudden the onset, the less time your dog has. I suppose the drugs will help her hold on and be much more comfortable. So that is my plan, as long as she is comfortable, wants her food and is in general, in good spirits and not struggling to breathe...this will be my guide.
Thank you for sharing your journey and stories here and thank you for reading mine. The end is never easy or pretty, i can only hope that I will have the courage and the understanding to know the difference of wether I am easing her suffering with all these meds or prolonging it....this is my fear...that I will miss the cues, the signs or think that my medicating her is helping her when really it is prolonging the discomfort. I will pray for clarity on this very thing.
Me and my pitbull Macceo, who is 9 are fighting this battle as well. He was diagnosed with chf on august 10 2015. He never had any signs until à cough one morning and he looked pregnant. He played ball with me the day before. The vet drained five pounds of fluid off of him on the day he was diagnosed. He was started on furosimide, benazapril, and vetmedin, that he takes every twelve hours, and the benazapril once a day. I give it to him at night. He is my world, I don't have children yet. He has been back to the vet 3 times since his diagnosis for ultra sounds and he hasn't had any more fluid on him yet. His vet said the fluid would probably come right back after the first drain and we would be out of options and we didn't want him to suffer, but I went ahead and gave it a shot. I'm glad I did, its been two months since the drain and still no fluid back yet. She said it usually doesn't happen like this, most dogs can't compensate and the fluid returns immediately. He gets his meds like clockwork and I write it down date/time every time he gets his meds, so I know he doesn't miss a dose. I love him and can't give up on him, because he has never gave up on me. I've had him his whole life, he was born at my house. I love him so much and this has completely caught me off guard and is the biggest shock of my life I think. I've spent a lot of time talking to GOD which I think has a lot to do with it too. But that's it so far, gotta go give my son his meds. If your going through the same never give up on them, and the meds do wonders, use them.
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CHF in cocker spaniel
My dog had congestive heart failure too
