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Newly diagnosed MVD

Molly's mom

Well-known member
Hello all, i've been away from this board for a few years. My Molly (who is now eight had decompression surgery for her SM in 2007 at age 2 and at the time I shared her story and her progress frequently on this board. I received great advice and comfort when I needed it most. In retrospect I wish we hadn't been so aggressive with treatment, as she immediately progressed despite the surgery and it was an awful recovery. I have decided that we are just not "the odds are in our favor" type of people. I am pleased to report that we are maintaining on 600 mg on gabepentin a day and I think her quality of life is good (not great) but good.

Now once again I need the support and advice of this board. We have a 4 year old black/tan named Cooper who has just been diagnosed with MVD. Our vet discovered what she thought was a "grade 2" murmur on his last physcial and he had an echocardiogram today by a cardiologist. The report is as follows:

Physical exam: 3/6 holosystolic LA murmur with mid systolic click

Echocardiogram Summary:
Atrioventrical valvular insufficiency - mitral and aortic - moderate

Radiograph Summary:
cardiomegaly (LVE) with VHS 12 V.



He is currently asymptomatic and we were told no treatment is warranted and it is not necessary to curtail his activity in any way.

Any thoughts or comments on the diagnosis would be appreciated. I there any "all in one" supplement that is recommended?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Hi Bev:

There was some recent discussion on good heart supplements. If you do a search you'll likely throw them up -- there are some commercial ones and people also often just do separate supplements. I give Omega 3 and CoQ10 daily (500 or 1000mg of the first, 30mg of the second). I think the commercial one many use is called Cardiguard?

On the SM -- glad things are stable after initial difficulties. It is always hard to know which route to go with surgery -- we all make the best choices we can, weighing up so many variables. Is Molly only on gabapentin? There are other things that could be added that could really help, and also, you might find she does much better on Lyrica (my Leo went from 200mg 3x of gabapentin -- the max he can take -- to 50mg 2x Lyrica and does much better on the Lyrica -- am pleased the dose is much lower and only 2x, makes things much easier all around).
 
Thanks for the reply Karlin.

I have tried just about every commonly used meds for Molly syringomyelia including compounded lyrica. Nothing seemed to make a difference as opposed to gabapentin alone. The 2x a day versus 3x a day was convenient but not enough to justify the cost of replacing the gabapentin. I would say that the progression as slowed over the last couple of years. She had soft palate surgery last year and 7 teeth removed this past March, but her heart is good we are very grateful for that.

Cooper is asymptomatic at this point with the mvd, and requires no treatment at this time but I want to start on supplements right away.

Does the fact that his heart had no detectable murmur a year ago and now at age 4 he is a grade 3 mean that he is more likely to progress quickly? The cardiologist said that it could be months or years but that he would eventually go into congestive heart failure.
:(
 
... Does the fact that his heart had no detectable murmur a year ago and now at age 4 he is a grade 3 mean that he is more likely to progress quickly? The cardiologist said that it could be months or years but that he would eventually go into congestive heart failure.

I don't think that the progression from no murmur to a grade 3 predicts the future of the progression. I agree with your cardiologist. We give supplements to all of our cavaliers, upping them as the dog progresses from no murmur to a murmur, and then upping them some more as the murmur progresses to congestive heart failure. Our list of supplements is here: http://cavalierhealth.org/diets.htm#Cardiac_Supplements

Of those, all of our cavaliers get vitamins C and E and the CoQ10 and oils and Thorne's Bio-Cardio. When they develop a murmur, we add Standard Process Canine Cardiac Support. When the murmur gets worse, we add one or more of the others.

Of course, we take our dogs to an holistic vet, and we supplement their food with the approval of our holistic vet. Most conventional vets (we call them "allopathic" vets, which some of them erroneously take as a slur, but it accurately describes their "treat the symptom" style of medicine), recoil in horror at the very idea of bothering to supplement the commercial foods that they prescribe and sell. But, I digress...
 
Thanks for your input Rod, we are starting supplements ASAP. Do you have any advice as to the best way to administer them? (I.e., spread out during the day, on an empty stomach etc)
 
... Do you have any advice as to the best way to administer them? (I.e., spread out during the day, on an empty stomach etc)

We feed our cavaliers twice a day. The powdered supplements and the oils are mixed with the food. The pills also are mixed with the food. But if the dog tends to spit out the pills, we switch to offering them with a small quanity of either peanut butter or spray cheese.
 
I have started Cooper on Vitamin C, Omega 3 and the Bio-Cardio. It's only been 3 days, but I think he's not tolerating something well. He is restless and he vomited outside a couple of times last night. Maybe too much too soon? Should I start over with one at a time? Which supplement do you think is most likely to be the culprit? On an unrelated note. There has been no bloodwork done in conjunction with his MVD diagnosis. Should I request some? I have petplan insurance so the money wouldn't be an issue.
 
I have started Cooper on Vitamin C, Omega 3 and the Bio-Cardio. It's only been 3 days, but I think he's not tolerating something well. He is restless and he vomited outside a couple of times last night. Maybe too much too soon? Should I start over with one at a time? Which supplement do you think is most likely to be the culprit? On an unrelated note. There has been no bloodwork done in conjunction with his MVD diagnosis. Should I request some? I have petplan insurance so the money wouldn't be an issue.

Some dogs don't tolerate the oil at first. You might cut back on the quantity of oil for a while.
 
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