Frusemide...

Hi, My kaytee is coming up for 9 this year I AM SORRY IF you have heard this all before, I am always worrying about something.....

Kaytee has MVD her heart murmur was graded at grade one though I know it is hard for vets to grade this for sure. She has always had a really bad cough, I took her to a specialist a while back and they never mentioned that the cough could be because of her heart they said suspected bronchitis, but later on when my vet did a heart xray she was able to see how the heart is kind of a "D" shape on one side (I don't know what causes this?) And she was put on vetmedin and frusemide, My vet said the lungs didn't show the patterns of bronchitis and that she thinks the cough is due to the heart, what she wasn't sure was whether it was fluid related or the heart banging on something as it is enlarged, but is it normal for a dog to have a cough with only a early grade one murmur?

I don't understand it, the frusemide do calm the cough down but even though she is on the highest dose she can have she still coughs. I took her to see my vet quite recently and she couldnt hear any fluid on Kate's lungs, but stupidly I had given her a whole frusemide a few hours before we went, I will do anything to convince myself it isnt her heart causing the cough that maybe it is something not as bad...but no-one else agrees with me.

I plan to take her to the vet again and this time leave off the frusemide so the vet will actually be able to let me know if there is fluid or not. But I am worried about her having this drug, If she needs it then I will have to be strong but I am stressed about her kidneys, I heard they can put pressure on them and cause problems? I was thinking about having regular blood tests done on kaytee to check they are OK do you think this would be a good idea?

Sorry to be a pain but I wondered what you knew about these, frusemide sometimes called frusecare I think. THANK YOU for taking the time to read this, it means so much xxx

PS I have been thinking about taking her to a cardiologist, but she has had SO MUCH anesthetic done in her life, so many tests is it safe/fair to put her through more??? xxx

You really need to talk to your vet -- a medical professional -- about these drugs, your concerns, and about any side effects these drugs can have -- you are asking a lot of important questions that no one here can safely answer. Please remember no one here has the formal medical background to give you the kind of information your vet will be able to do and you should never rely on advice from a discussion board on such crucial questions and issues (people may be well intentioned in their answers but they are not vets, they don't have your dog's records before them, they don't know the details of her history, etc.). If you feel your current vet isn't explaining this to you or answering your questions, then try a new vet -- but they really are the ones that need to listen to all the issues you are concerned about, explain the drugs, and tell you if there are risks.

On cardiologists: They don't use anaesthetic to do an auscultation -- a cardiologist accurately grades a murmur just by listening. Why don't you contact the regional CKCS club as they all regularly hold low cost heart clinics at events and they can tell you when the next one near you might be? I would definitely take her to a specialist at this stage.

Also: talk to your vet before deciding whether or not to give a drug before going to an appointment.

The cardiologist also does an ultrasound of the without anesthetic. :flwr: