grammargirl
Member
Hi there
My husband and I originally registered on this forum a couple of years back as we have gained a lot of helpful advice
re our dog Tails, who is now 3.
Since then we have adopted a second cavvie, a five-year old (we think) rescue named Panda who is the sweetest little boy in the world but has
been having some problems with his heart.
About 3 months ago he started coughing (about once a day) so we took him to the vet who did an examination and told us
there was nothing wrong. We knew from the initial examination that Panda had a grade 2 heart murmur but the vet was convinced
that this was unrelated. He suggested that a few of the cavaliers that he looked after had such abnormalities so we shouldn't
worry about it.
A few weeks went by and we both became more uncomfortable withe the coughing so we brought Panda back in (this time to
see a different vet) who examined him and decided it felt like a problem in his trachea probably caused by an enlarged heart
so she gave him some anti-inflamatories and antibiotics (in case it was an infection), which seemed to have no effect. So we went back and AGAIN the vet told us it was
nothing to worry about and we should just monitor it.
Then finally about 2 weeks ago the cough got dramatically worse - going almost immediately from about once or twice a day to
20-30 times a day. So we rushed back to the vet who this time heard the cough and gave Panda a diuretic shot and a
dose of Frusemide which instantly eased the problem and took Panda back down to about 1 cough a day (and made him
visibly MUCH happier).
So on our next visit to the vet (about 4 days later) the vet concluded that it had to be that Panda's heart murmer
had progressed to heart faliure and it was time to start medication...
So he prescribed us Frusemide (20mg x3 per day), Benefortin (5mg x1 per day) and Vetmedin, (5mg x1 per day). This has ALMOST completely cleared the cough but not 100%
- since starting the medication he has been coughing about once per day (at night), until last night when for the first time he didn't cough at all. We're hoping
that means that the medication has taken effect properly and that he won't cough again.
Now I was wondering if this sounds right to everyone, or whether there is anything else we should ask the vet about. The vet says he has dealt with many
cavs with MVD and some have gone on for years on these meds but I was wondering if there is anything else that
Panda should be taking. We just want to make sure we aren't missing anything!
My husband and I originally registered on this forum a couple of years back as we have gained a lot of helpful advice
re our dog Tails, who is now 3.
Since then we have adopted a second cavvie, a five-year old (we think) rescue named Panda who is the sweetest little boy in the world but has
been having some problems with his heart.
About 3 months ago he started coughing (about once a day) so we took him to the vet who did an examination and told us
there was nothing wrong. We knew from the initial examination that Panda had a grade 2 heart murmur but the vet was convinced
that this was unrelated. He suggested that a few of the cavaliers that he looked after had such abnormalities so we shouldn't
worry about it.
A few weeks went by and we both became more uncomfortable withe the coughing so we brought Panda back in (this time to
see a different vet) who examined him and decided it felt like a problem in his trachea probably caused by an enlarged heart
so she gave him some anti-inflamatories and antibiotics (in case it was an infection), which seemed to have no effect. So we went back and AGAIN the vet told us it was
nothing to worry about and we should just monitor it.
Then finally about 2 weeks ago the cough got dramatically worse - going almost immediately from about once or twice a day to
20-30 times a day. So we rushed back to the vet who this time heard the cough and gave Panda a diuretic shot and a
dose of Frusemide which instantly eased the problem and took Panda back down to about 1 cough a day (and made him
visibly MUCH happier).
So on our next visit to the vet (about 4 days later) the vet concluded that it had to be that Panda's heart murmer
had progressed to heart faliure and it was time to start medication...
So he prescribed us Frusemide (20mg x3 per day), Benefortin (5mg x1 per day) and Vetmedin, (5mg x1 per day). This has ALMOST completely cleared the cough but not 100%
- since starting the medication he has been coughing about once per day (at night), until last night when for the first time he didn't cough at all. We're hoping
that means that the medication has taken effect properly and that he won't cough again.
Now I was wondering if this sounds right to everyone, or whether there is anything else we should ask the vet about. The vet says he has dealt with many
cavs with MVD and some have gone on for years on these meds but I was wondering if there is anything else that
Panda should be taking. We just want to make sure we aren't missing anything!