Here are the signs that your dog has heart disease

Heart disease not only affects us humans – but also our pets.
Heart problems in dogs usually occur when the animal gets a little older.
– Zaga here is seven years old and represents the type of dog that gets the most common disease, says veterinarian Christophe Bujon.

Heart problems affect approximately ten percent of our four-legged friends. There are two main heart diseases, says veterinarian Christophe Bujon.

The most common is endocardiosis, or myxomatous valve disease, and mainly affects small and medium-sized dogs in middle age and above. Like the seven-year-old cocker spaniel Zaga, who is with Christophe Bujon in Nyhetsmorgon.

Half get no problems

It is usually discovered when you go to the vet to check something else.

– You listen to the heart and hear a murmur, and murmurs are usually caused by it not being tight. You can think of any pump that leaks. What should be pumped further, falls back a little. It makes a small sound that you actually hear, says Christophe Bujon.

However, the dog does not need to have any symptoms of the heart disease.

– Less than half ever get symptoms from it. You can have this disease and live a full dog’s life without ever being bothered by it.

And life is not shortened?

– No, not for those dogs that don’t get in trouble.

Treated with medicine

Heart disease in dogs is treated in the same way as in humans – with medicine.

– You can put in medicine that can slow it down or treatments to make it easier for the heart. When they have heart failure, the prognosis is usually that they can have up to a year or 18 months with a good quality of life, if they get the right treatment. But once they suffer from heart failure, they usually cannot live the rest of their lives as intended.

Could it be time to terminate prematurely so that the dog does not suffer?

– You can see how well the dog responds to the medicine. If it’s a dog that does something it loves and it doesn’t work because of the diagnosis, you can think about it. It means more veterinary visits and medication, so you have to think about that.