LexieAndSprinkles
Well-known member
I apologize in advance for this being a long post. I’ve had a lot of new info come my way the past few weeks and I think you all might be the ones to help me out!
Backstory-
My name is Jordan and I have a 5-year-old (7/17/10) Blenheim named Sprinkles. I’ve had her since birth (long story) and she has always been a spunky, rambunctious pup.
We had had the same vet since before her birth and because it was an accidental litter with little history on her father side, she monitored her very closely. Luckily Sprinkles was always extremely healthy! I had beat myself up for years over this unplanned puppy and the possible health issues but it seemed that we were in the clear. At our yearly check up when she was 4, her father was still murmur free at age 6 and so was her mother. Our regular vet was in the process of moving so we did one last big check up before she left. At the visit she mentioned she thought she heard something, so she finished the exam, listened again for a long time and concluded she heard nothing but to recheck in 6 months just to be safe.
We were on the search for a new trusted vet so her 6 month check was a cut and dry visit to a vet I ended up not loving. He said everything was fine and they did not hear any kind if murmur. He mentioned that a lot of vets hear “phantom murmurs” in Cavaliers because they are trying so hard to hear one because of the breed history. I didn’t love his “whatever” approach to my dogs so I continued my search for a new trusted vet.
A few months later however, I started noticing small changes in Sprinkles behavior. It was a gradual process, which I think is why I unfortunately let it go on longer than I should have. First she seemed to get very lazy. She had always been a crazy dog… quite the troublemaker to be truthful, but she seemed to mellow over the course of a few months. I was even making comments that she was the best behaved dog in the house now! Next she decided that she didn’t like to go outside anymore, and she slept much more than she once had. I decided that she was just getting older and had finally outgrown her delinquent ways. Both her parents are the ultimate lap dogs so maybe the genetics had kicked in and she was going to be one too! Next she developed a persistent cough that became very prevalent when I took her outside to play. She would come in “out of breath” and “wheezy”. I joked that she was just out of shape. She had put on a few pounds over the few months since her activity level had dropped. At this point it was also the spring so I attributed the cough to allergies. We had just moved to a very large farm and we were all struggling with terrible allergies (humans and dogs alike). But after a few weeks I decided that if this really was allergies, she needed something to treat them STAT. She seemed to be panting more and more, even while she was asleep.
*Note: I know realize that over the course of those 6 months she displayed so many symptoms for MVD and CHD that it should have been obvious. However, all I knew at this point about MVD was that both her parents were murmur free and so was Sprinkles. I had no education on the symptoms. I kick myself looking back on it.
After a particularly rough day of heavy panting, I made an appointment took her to our new vet. The first thing he said after listening was that she had a grade 3-4 murmur. I was floored. I handed him all her previous vet records and explained she’d been carefully listened to by two different vets over the past year. How could it have developed that fast? The rest was a blur. He did x-rays, told me her heart was enlarged (I think he measured a 12), and that she was in CHF based off of the fluid in her lungs and around her heart. I think I cried through the majority of the appointment and actually had to get my mom to call back later that afternoon since I practically went into shock. He put her on 5mg of Benzepril 2x a day and 12.5 of Lasix 2x day and referred us to a cardiologist. The appointment was 2 weeks out so she took her meds and waited. During that time she became a little more like her old self and I realized how sick she had been.
2 weeks later I took her to the cardiologist. She did the exam and informed me that her murmur was only a 2, that the fluid that had previously been in her lungs was cleared and probably caused by pneumonia… and that the meds we were on were pointless because she didn’t need them yet. Um, what? I was extremely relieved but also very confused. How could a vet tell me (and show me) just 2 weeks before that my 5-year-old Cavalier was in CHF… and now this cardiologist basically treated me like an over-reactive dog Mom?
I asked her about the enlarged heart and she told me she only measured a little over a 9. She said that the way the other vet did the x-rays could have distorted it and made it look bigger.
I asked her about the fast respiration when she slept. She told me that dogs do that when they are dreaming…
She said the coughing was caused by the pneumonia.
She explained that it all was just a coincidence that it showed up the same time that we first heard the murmur and that my vet had over reacted. She then sent us on our merry way instructing me to come back in a year for a follow up. I was confused but… she was a cardiologist. She had to know what she was talking about, right?
So I took my Sprinkles pup home, weaned her from her Lasix as instructed and stopped the benzepril. I decided I’d keep a very close eye on her but she was acting much better. Summer ended, we came into fall and she slowly fell back into the symptoms from before minus the coughing. My mom played them off as “fall allergies”, maybe she was getting pneumonia again? Maybe she had asthma? She didn’t act sick or uncomfortable. Just lazy… with a lot of panting.
A few weeks ago, we took Sprinkles’ father in for his yearly check up. Our new, new vet whom we had grown to love listened and said she thought he had a transient murmur. She decided to do a full heart work up and sure enough, he had a grade 2 murmur and had Stage B MVD. We told her about Sprinkles and she had us bring her in immediately (within the hour). She admitted her on the spot just looking at her tongue color. X-rays showed her lungs and heart again full of fluid. Seeing her lung x-ray with only a VERY SMALL spot that wasn’t fluid was terrifying. I have no idea how she was even breathing. She kept her for a week and started her on:
Vetmedin: 5mg 2x a day
Benzepril: 5mg 2x a day
Spironolactone: 25mg 2x a day
She stayed on these for 2 weeks and we went back for a follow up today. She is still full of fluid so she added Lasix 12.5mg 2x a day. We go back in 10 days for more bloodwork and chest xrays. Other than the heavy breathing and a lot of sleeping, she doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable. She isn’t coughing which I guess is a good sign.
Here’s where you guys come in:
Needless to say, I am beyond upset, scared, and frustrated at the whole situation. I just don’t understand how on earth things progressed so quickly and there was so much confusion. Was I just going to a bunch of quack vets and specialists or is this a common thing to have this much trouble diagnosing? I personally feel like the cardiologist we saw royally screwed up and costs us 6 months treatment. I absolutely blame myself for not doing more… but when the specialist tells you that everything is stable and ok for now… what do you do?
Now I am completely out of me element. I don’t even know what questions to ask my vet when I go back in 2 weeks. Here are the questions I have for you guys:
Is there anything specific I need to ask when we go back?
What do I expect from here? How long do Cav’s usually have when they are at the stage Sprinkles is at?
What can I do to help? Other than her meds, is there a specific food she should be on? She needs to loose about 2 pounds but obviously cannot exercise right now.
Any advice or answers that you all have would be much appreciated. I am so worried about my girl. I’ve been on Dr. Google constantly but I don’t even know how to come up with good questions or decipher what I am reading.
Backstory-
My name is Jordan and I have a 5-year-old (7/17/10) Blenheim named Sprinkles. I’ve had her since birth (long story) and she has always been a spunky, rambunctious pup.
We had had the same vet since before her birth and because it was an accidental litter with little history on her father side, she monitored her very closely. Luckily Sprinkles was always extremely healthy! I had beat myself up for years over this unplanned puppy and the possible health issues but it seemed that we were in the clear. At our yearly check up when she was 4, her father was still murmur free at age 6 and so was her mother. Our regular vet was in the process of moving so we did one last big check up before she left. At the visit she mentioned she thought she heard something, so she finished the exam, listened again for a long time and concluded she heard nothing but to recheck in 6 months just to be safe.
We were on the search for a new trusted vet so her 6 month check was a cut and dry visit to a vet I ended up not loving. He said everything was fine and they did not hear any kind if murmur. He mentioned that a lot of vets hear “phantom murmurs” in Cavaliers because they are trying so hard to hear one because of the breed history. I didn’t love his “whatever” approach to my dogs so I continued my search for a new trusted vet.
A few months later however, I started noticing small changes in Sprinkles behavior. It was a gradual process, which I think is why I unfortunately let it go on longer than I should have. First she seemed to get very lazy. She had always been a crazy dog… quite the troublemaker to be truthful, but she seemed to mellow over the course of a few months. I was even making comments that she was the best behaved dog in the house now! Next she decided that she didn’t like to go outside anymore, and she slept much more than she once had. I decided that she was just getting older and had finally outgrown her delinquent ways. Both her parents are the ultimate lap dogs so maybe the genetics had kicked in and she was going to be one too! Next she developed a persistent cough that became very prevalent when I took her outside to play. She would come in “out of breath” and “wheezy”. I joked that she was just out of shape. She had put on a few pounds over the few months since her activity level had dropped. At this point it was also the spring so I attributed the cough to allergies. We had just moved to a very large farm and we were all struggling with terrible allergies (humans and dogs alike). But after a few weeks I decided that if this really was allergies, she needed something to treat them STAT. She seemed to be panting more and more, even while she was asleep.
*Note: I know realize that over the course of those 6 months she displayed so many symptoms for MVD and CHD that it should have been obvious. However, all I knew at this point about MVD was that both her parents were murmur free and so was Sprinkles. I had no education on the symptoms. I kick myself looking back on it.
After a particularly rough day of heavy panting, I made an appointment took her to our new vet. The first thing he said after listening was that she had a grade 3-4 murmur. I was floored. I handed him all her previous vet records and explained she’d been carefully listened to by two different vets over the past year. How could it have developed that fast? The rest was a blur. He did x-rays, told me her heart was enlarged (I think he measured a 12), and that she was in CHF based off of the fluid in her lungs and around her heart. I think I cried through the majority of the appointment and actually had to get my mom to call back later that afternoon since I practically went into shock. He put her on 5mg of Benzepril 2x a day and 12.5 of Lasix 2x day and referred us to a cardiologist. The appointment was 2 weeks out so she took her meds and waited. During that time she became a little more like her old self and I realized how sick she had been.
2 weeks later I took her to the cardiologist. She did the exam and informed me that her murmur was only a 2, that the fluid that had previously been in her lungs was cleared and probably caused by pneumonia… and that the meds we were on were pointless because she didn’t need them yet. Um, what? I was extremely relieved but also very confused. How could a vet tell me (and show me) just 2 weeks before that my 5-year-old Cavalier was in CHF… and now this cardiologist basically treated me like an over-reactive dog Mom?
I asked her about the enlarged heart and she told me she only measured a little over a 9. She said that the way the other vet did the x-rays could have distorted it and made it look bigger.
I asked her about the fast respiration when she slept. She told me that dogs do that when they are dreaming…
She said the coughing was caused by the pneumonia.
She explained that it all was just a coincidence that it showed up the same time that we first heard the murmur and that my vet had over reacted. She then sent us on our merry way instructing me to come back in a year for a follow up. I was confused but… she was a cardiologist. She had to know what she was talking about, right?
So I took my Sprinkles pup home, weaned her from her Lasix as instructed and stopped the benzepril. I decided I’d keep a very close eye on her but she was acting much better. Summer ended, we came into fall and she slowly fell back into the symptoms from before minus the coughing. My mom played them off as “fall allergies”, maybe she was getting pneumonia again? Maybe she had asthma? She didn’t act sick or uncomfortable. Just lazy… with a lot of panting.
A few weeks ago, we took Sprinkles’ father in for his yearly check up. Our new, new vet whom we had grown to love listened and said she thought he had a transient murmur. She decided to do a full heart work up and sure enough, he had a grade 2 murmur and had Stage B MVD. We told her about Sprinkles and she had us bring her in immediately (within the hour). She admitted her on the spot just looking at her tongue color. X-rays showed her lungs and heart again full of fluid. Seeing her lung x-ray with only a VERY SMALL spot that wasn’t fluid was terrifying. I have no idea how she was even breathing. She kept her for a week and started her on:
Vetmedin: 5mg 2x a day
Benzepril: 5mg 2x a day
Spironolactone: 25mg 2x a day
She stayed on these for 2 weeks and we went back for a follow up today. She is still full of fluid so she added Lasix 12.5mg 2x a day. We go back in 10 days for more bloodwork and chest xrays. Other than the heavy breathing and a lot of sleeping, she doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable. She isn’t coughing which I guess is a good sign.
Here’s where you guys come in:
Needless to say, I am beyond upset, scared, and frustrated at the whole situation. I just don’t understand how on earth things progressed so quickly and there was so much confusion. Was I just going to a bunch of quack vets and specialists or is this a common thing to have this much trouble diagnosing? I personally feel like the cardiologist we saw royally screwed up and costs us 6 months treatment. I absolutely blame myself for not doing more… but when the specialist tells you that everything is stable and ok for now… what do you do?
Now I am completely out of me element. I don’t even know what questions to ask my vet when I go back in 2 weeks. Here are the questions I have for you guys:
Is there anything specific I need to ask when we go back?
What do I expect from here? How long do Cav’s usually have when they are at the stage Sprinkles is at?
What can I do to help? Other than her meds, is there a specific food she should be on? She needs to loose about 2 pounds but obviously cannot exercise right now.
Any advice or answers that you all have would be much appreciated. I am so worried about my girl. I’ve been on Dr. Google constantly but I don’t even know how to come up with good questions or decipher what I am reading.