It was the longest night of my life as I held Alfred while he coughed and struggled to breathe. He coughed all night long and I thought he would surely die before morning! I was in Fryeburg, ME and really had not yet established a relationship with a vet and there was no 24 hr emergency number. One evening right after Alfred's 10th birthday and five years after he was first diagnosed with a grade 1 MVD murmur, Alfred began to cough. My first Cavalier, Alfred, was my first Cavalier to get into real trouble with his MVD. Excess weight will surely do him no good if fighting MVD. Short walks are recommended.Ħ- be sure to keep an eye on your dog's weight. Eliminating the infection can have a positive effect that is nothing short of miraculous.Ĥ- if the cardiologist recommends an EKG, my vet does it and sends it by modem to CardioPet where it is evaluated by a cardiologistĥ- moderate exercise appears to be good for these dogs (stairs especially!). For such dogs, any infection can make them go downhill very quickly. If you see any such signs, take the dog to your vet at once and put it on antibiotics! Even an elderly Cavalier with a bad heart and poorly functioning kidneys can have dental work done with the proper anesthesia and a skillful vet. It is also important for you to check their gums regularly for any signs of inflammation (redness & bleeding). I personally will not allow any anesthesia other than isoflurane to be used, as it is the safest, especially for dogs with heart problems. If the dog has an MVD murmur, the recommended protocol is to put the dog on antibiotics for 10 days both BEFORE and AFTER the dental work. It would be better to do this more often, but this is what I can afford. Early identification and proper treatment CAN make a difference!ģ- teeth cleaning (and pulling!) every 18 months for dogs with a murmur. An enlarged heart can cause a lot of trouble for a dog with MVD. This is one of the cheapest and easiest things you can do to help any dog with a murmur. He evaluates the x-ray using Dr James Buchanan's "Vertebral Scale System to Measure Canine Heart Size in Radiographs", Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc., Vol. DO NOT count on your own vet to pick up low grade murmurs!Ģ- after the cardiologis first hears a murmur, I have my own vet do a heart x-ray to evaluate the heart for enlargement. The Club sponsors heart clinics in various parts of the country several times each year (look for announcements in the Bulletin and in the Show Calendar on the Club's web site). I use the CKCSC-sponsored heart clinics to save money - it is a substantial saving over a private cardiologist or a veterinary school. I will also describe what happened to the two I lost to MVD.ġ- yearly auscultation by a board certified cardiologist for ALL Cavaliers over the age of 18 months. Perhaps the best way to let people know what they can expect when living with the potential of MVD developing in their Cavalier and the actual disease itself, is to describe what I do to find out if my dogs have MVD and to describe the episodes when the disease caused my dogs (and me!) great distress. There are chronic eye and skin conditions which can interfer more with a dog’s quality of life, and cause the owner much greater inconvenience. For those on medication, it means giving them pills once or twice a day. For the most part, this has meant doing absolutely nothing on a daily basis except noticing if the dog is coughing or appears to have any shortness of breath. Since 1990, I have had no fewer than one dog with MVD, and as many as four at one time. I have had five Cavaliers since 1984, four of whom have developed Mitral Valve Disease.
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