Okay I have not done a blog in a few days or should I say a week or so as I have had a lot going on with my furbabys ! As you all might know I am looking after my mums dogs while she is away and
well he doesn't like to be clipped so we have to have him sedated just to have him groomed ! So lets start the story there every 8 weeks we go to the vet with Sebastian and have him groomed but after about 5 weeks it was like he was panting a lot and coughing too I just thought it was because he was hot and needed grooming again because of the warmer weather so I waited the extra 3 weeks until it was his time to go to the vet. So as I was dropping the little furbaby to the vet I asked if they could check out his heart and throat as he was coughing and panting. So I left him with the vet and off home I went upon arriving home I noticed my furry cat Maggie was limping on her front leg arrgh is what I thought so I went and scooped her up into my arms and called out to my big brother to come and help me , and together we shaved her arm and found a big wound on the underside of her paw! So by this time I was crying and a little frantic so I called my Monster (boyfriend) to tell him that my cat was hurt and he said to take her to the vet so he came and got us and off we went to the vet again. While having Maggie the cat looked at Sebastion was all clipped and ready to come home. But poor Maggie had to have a abscess removed so she went to sleep and had a operation to fix her. Nearly $400 bucks just for the furbaby cat. Not to mention the $250.00 for Sebastion !! When we went in to see the vet about Sebastion we where told we have to come back for more tests. That are going to be another $300.00 or so but what the vet has found is little furbaby Sebastion has fluid on his heart and thats is why is has been coughing and panting much more then normal poor little furbaby , So I thought I might talk about the signs of heart problems today!
Pericardial Effusion in Dogs
Pericardial effusion may be a condition in which an abnormally great deal of fluid collects within the sac that surrounds the dog's heart (pericardium). A secondary condition, observed as cardiac tamponade, results from this retention of fluid, because the swelling of fluid applies pressure on the beating heart, compressing it and limiting its ability to pump blood.
The pressure within the heart will increase, and since the right atrium and ventricles usually have the lowest cardiac filling pressures, they're the most plagued by affected by. With the pressure elevated within the heart, the heart features a lower flow rate, resulting in right-sided symptom heart disease. Fluid retention throughout the body generally follows ascites, swelling of the limbs, and weakness or collapse.
Furbabys are prone to pericardial effusion.
Symptoms May Include
Lethargy
Vomiting
Anorexia
Pale gums
Abdominal distention
Exercise intolerance
Fainting or collapse
Respiratory distress
Increased respiratory rate and/or exaggerated heart beat rate
Causes
Congenital disorders (birth defects, or genetic traits)
Congestive heart condition (failure attributable to excess fluid retention)
Coagulopathy: a illness that affects the body's ability to clot (coagulate) blood
Constrictive pericarditis with fibrosis (inflammation of the serous membrane with excess fibrous tissue)
Infection of the pericardium
Foreign object within the body inflicting internal distress
Left chamber tear or viscus trauma
Cancer
Diagnosis
Your Furbaby Vet can perform an entire physical examination on your dog, as well as a blood chemical profile, an entire blood count, a urinalysis, and an electrolyte panel, so as to rule out underlying general diseases like cancer or infection. you may have to be compelled to provides a thorough history of your dog's health, onset of symptoms, and possible incidents which may have precipitated this condition.
Blood tests will facilitate to diagnose disorder that has caused fluid buildup within the sac. If infection or cancer is that the explanation for the pericardial effusion, a pericardial fluid analysis are often done to spot the origin of the cancer, or the sort of infection. radiograph and sonograph imaging are crucial for proper identification of pericardial effusion. associate sonograph is even additional sensitive than a radiogram for diagnosis of serosa effusion. associate electrocardiogram, that measures the electrical conductance of the heart, generally shows a definite pattern if the animal is suffering from cardiac tamponade.
Treatment
If the patient is diagnosed with cardiac tamponade, immediate pericardiocentesis (drawing the fluid out of the pericardial sac with a needle) is essential. Some dogs may need to have the process repeated.
Furbabys in respiratory distress will be stabilised with the use of administered oxygen and an oxygen cage. Some animals may need their pericardium surgically removed (pericardiectomy), if there is persistent effusion.
Living and Management
If symptoms of pericardial effusion should reoccur in your dog, contact your veterinarian immediately. If you pet has undergone a pericardiectomy, check the surgical incision every day to make sure it is clean, and is healing properly. There is always a risk of infection when the skin has been operated on.
If there is any itching, swelling, redness, or oozing at the surgical site, contact your Furbay vet immediately for advisement.
So I hope this has been some kind of help to anyone with a furbaby that might have some signs of Heart Problems I will let you know how Sebastion goes at his up coming vet appointment on Friday !
Little Miss Mlidred is doing fine and she is just loving the attention from all the new people she is meeting everyday I am going to do a Blog on chihuahuas and the cold weather next as you can see below Miss Mildred loves to be warm !
Okay with a heavy heart I am typing this its a update to this blog , our
Old Man River aka Sebastion lost his fight with his heart problem it was the single most heart breaking thing I have ever had to do
and that was to walk into the vet and have him put to sleep it was horrible and so sad to be in the position to have to make this choice,
Every furbaby mum and dad wants for their furbaby when they are this sick to just go to sleep and not wake up. But our Old Man River just wouldn't let go and his breathing was very fast and laboured and the pressure from the fluid on his heart lungs and kidneys was just not going away with the medical treatment. So its been a few months without him and its ver very strange to not have him snoring in the house are just being able to give him a little pat and cuddle. Yet I was there with my Monster while he passed away and it was peaceful loving and fast. I was allowed to hold him while this was all going on. It was just as hard for our vet as they have looked after him since he was a ball of fluff so my heart was with them as theirs was with mine. I am finding it hard to type this without crying. We wish for our furbabys to live forever yet thats not the case and Sebastion had the life he was loved and cared for just like a little brother. We loved him so very very much and on this note Rest In Peace Sebastion !!
No comments:
Post a Comment