Can anyone recommend a cardiologist in the NYC/Long Island area?

I'm fairly certain Chloe has MVD (in addition to her SM ) and would like to start treatment. Are there any other Cavalier owners in my area who can recommend a cardiologist that knows about treating MVD in the breed?

Thanks!

I am sorry to hear that. I live in NYC and have heard wonderful things from fellow cavalier owners about Dr. Betsy Bond -cardiologist at Animal Medical Center in NYC. Hope it turns out to not be MVD.
Oh wanted to add the follow doc too. I don't know much about him but my mother's neighbor used him for her poodle and was pleased:George Kramer-certified cardiologist @Ultravet Diagnostics in Mineola

ChloeTheCavalier said:

I'm fairly certain Chloe has MVD (in addition to her SM ) and would like to start treatment. Are there any other Cavalier owners in my area who can recommend a cardiologist that knows about treating MVD in the breed?

Thanks!

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There is a list at http://www.cavalierhealth.org/Cardiologists.htm Most all board certified veterinary cardiologists are knowledgeable about how to diagnose and treat cavaliers with MVD.

Thank you both.

We made an appt with Dr. George Kramer tomorrow morning.

Sorry to hear you have this concern -- let us know what he says. Many of us here have gone or are going through MVD with our cavaliers so you can ask lots of questions and get lots of support. Also use the 'search' feature too and you will find many previous threads on the issue. Many of them are in the MVD/SM forum so you can also scroll through it.

Cardiologist in NYC

Dr. Betsy Bond at the NY Animal Health Center is my Lily's cardio vet. She is terrific. I endorse her wholeheartedly. Le Golfeur

Thank you everyone for your help and support.

Good news! We brought Chloe to see Dr. George Kramer and his team. They performed chest x-rays, an echo-cardiogram, and the other routine tests performed during a cardio consult. Turns out she has a very strong heart with not even an early stage murmur. He said the muscle looks good, no valve leakage, so we are VERY happy and relieved.

And not to mention surprised, to be honest. She'll be 5 years old in July and she pants very heavily for no reason. Whenever she gets excited, she goes into panting overdrive. Most recently, two nights ago she's been doing this hacking cough sound which finally convinced my parents to bring her to the cardiologist.

Dr. Kramer suggested putting her on medication for bronchitis to see if that clears up the coughing issue. If not, we'll have to explore what else may be causing it. But for now, I'm just happy her heart is in good condition. Here's hoping to more good years. :xfngr:

ChloeTheCavalier said:

... She'll be 5 years old in July and she pants very heavily for no reason. Whenever she gets excited, she goes into panting overdrive. Most recently, two nights ago she's been doing this hacking cough sound which finally convinced my parents to bring her to the cardiologist.

Dr. Kramer suggested putting her on medication for bronchitis to see if that clears up the coughing issue. If not, we'll have to explore what else may be causing it. But for now, I'm just happy her heart is in good condition. Here's hoping to more good years. :xfngr:

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With those symptoms, you were wise to take Chloe to the cardiologist. If her heart is clear (by auscultation -- stethoscope) as of her fifth birthday, consider registering her with the CKCSC,USA health registry. Details are at http://www.ckcsc.org/ckcsc/healthreg.nsf/obn?openform

Contact Anne Eckersley, the CKCSC,USA health registry secretary, at [email protected]

Heart-clear 5+ year olds need not be registered with CKCSC,USA to be added to its health registry.

I would register Chloe but she's a pet store dog (courtesy of my sister who didn't know better). Not sure how helpful her registry would be.

I'm very happy about her heart but Dr. Kramer brought up another possible issue, since it's not her heart causing the symptoms. He said Cushing's disease causes many of the symptoms Chloe is exhibiting: the panting, the huge appetite, the weight gain, etc.. I read up about it online and would like to get her tested. Is this something a regular vet can do or would a specialist be better?

On a different note-- Another thing I noticed last night is that Chloe started licking her lips for a good few minutes straight, non-stop. I never noticed this before. At first, I thought it might be Fly Catcher's, but her actions don't match the video's I've seen of dog's with Fly Catcher's. If anyone can take a look and give me any ideas of what this could be, that would be so helpful. (I also plan on sending this video to Chloe's neurologist, Dr. Chad West)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNbRhylJNow

ChloeTheCavalier said:

I would register Chloe but she's a pet store dog (courtesy of my sister who didn't know better). Not sure how helpful her registry would be.

I'm very happy about her heart but Dr. Kramer brought up another possible issue, since it's not her heart causing the symptoms. He said Cushing's disease causes many of the symptoms Chloe is exhibiting: the panting, the huge appetite, the weight gain, etc.. I read up about it online and would like to get her tested. Is this something a regular vet can do or would a specialist be better? ...

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I would not give up on registering her with the CKCSC,USA health registry. Ask Anne Eckersley about it. Her email addy is in my post above. Of course, Chloe has to actually be 5 years old and have a clear heart. So, nothing can be done right now except planning ahead.

As for Cushing's, this is from the Diagnosis section of : http://www.cavalierhealth.org/cushing.htm

"Cushing's disease can be diagnosed by laboratory tests of blood and urine, including a urine cortisol/creatinine ratio test, an ACTH stimulation test, and low and high dose dexamethasone suppression (LDDS) tests. Once diagnosed, tests can also determine if it is caused by pituitary gland tumors or an adrenal gland tumor."

Your regular vet ought to be able to draw the blood for this test.

Thanks Rod. I will contact Anne when the time comes, then.

I will bring Chloe to be tested for Cushing's. Her symptoms are spot-on except for the hair loss. She hasn't exhibited any of that, from what I can tell.

Some of Chloe's symptoms sound like they could also be related to having SM ( If memory serves me correctly she was MRI diagnosed recently?) I know when Jack is having a pain episode, he will pant, and/or lick his lips a lot. His appetite has also increased since being on the gabapentin. Is Chloe on any neuro meds?
Def. show Dr. West the video. He is Jack's neuro doc too and I know he appreciated a video I took of Jack's symptoms at our last visit.
Keep us updated.
Hugs to sweet Chloe

That is great news about chloes heart. Remind me about her SM? I know some of ellas medications has made ella pant. I don't mean to dampen the good news but I believe it can also be a sign of pain. Although to me I am always focused on ellas sm just like her insurance company that denies anything if they can say its relatated

Thanks anniemac.

Chloe is 4.5 and was diagnosed with SM last year (September). She had been exhibiting signs of scratching/face rubbing before that for at least 6months, but my family wouldn't believe me when i said something was wrong. We finally brought her to the neurologist after she had her first ever pain episode in September (suddenly couldn't go up or down a stair, yelped whenever you picked her up, seemed to lose control of her back legs, very withdrawn, etc.). The MRI confirmed SM, although the neurologist said her symptoms were mild-moderate even though the MRI showed moderate-severe SM.

She's been on gabapentin and prilosec since, and all has been well up until recently. More in my other post because this topic (her heart) is cleared up for now.