dog with enlarged heart

[dems4me (Premo)]

Does any of you all know what makes a dog's heart become enlarged? My parents lost their dog last week because (according to autopsy) the heart was 4 times the normal size and one of the ventricals was soo clogged fluid was backing up into the lungs. The dog came from the humane society and was adopted by my folks and they were told he had a heart murmor(sp?) and for the past few years (every since they had the dog) they always gave it medication for that. They were very strict on him not getting table scraps, no turkey, no chocolate, etc... What would cause his heart to get soo large? He wasn't a large breed dog or anything -- I just don't get it. Anyone have any insight on this???

Dems,

Sounds like the dog may have had heartworms at some point or it may have just been simply heart diseases. You can do some research at www.vet4petz.com on the issue, but it is hard to believe the autopsy didn't give some insight on the cause.

[dems4me (Premo)]

Originally posted by IM4Change
Dems,

Sounds like the dog may have had heartworms at some point or it may have just been simply heart diseases. You can do some research at www.vet4petz.com on the issue, but it is hard to believe the autopsy didn't give some insight on the cause.

They said it wasn't from heartworms -- also my folks were religious about giving him his heartworm medicine -- trust me, they love animals more than they do people and this was their baby so to speak. It just seems soo odd, apparently everytime my folks called to get the autopsy results they were told to call back every day -- this went on for about a week and then finally they called and the drs. said his heart was enlarged. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a similar problem or knew the cause. I could have told my folks what the problem is before and after -- he's a good dog with a very large heart!

[Nanny Pam (Premo)]

Originally posted by dems4me
They said it wasn't from heartworms -- also my folks were religious about giving him his heartworm medicine -- trust me, they love animals more than they do people and this was their baby so to speak. It just seems soo odd, apparently everytime my folks called to get the autopsy results they were told to call back every day -- this went on for about a week and then finally they called and the drs. said his heart was enlarged. I was just wondering if anyone else had had a similar problem or knew the cause. I could have told my folks what the problem is before and after -- he's a good dog with a very large heart!

I read this post a while ago and it is really bothering me. I'm quite sure your parents paid top $ for an autopsy. To get no reply for a week, and then to get the reply they did, instead of, "your dog died from an enlarged heart, due to (fill in the blank )is unacceptable in my mind. I think they deserve to hear the REASON the dog had an enlarged heart. It just sounds like your folks just got the 'brush-off.'

[dems4me (Premo)]

Originally posted by Nanny Pam
I read this post a while ago and it is really bothering me. I'm quite sure your parents paid top $ for an autopsy. To get no reply for a week, and then to get the reply they did, instead of, "your dog died from an enlarged heart, due to (fill in the blank )is unacceptable in my mind. I think they deserve to hear the REASON the dog had an enlarged heart. It just sounds like your folks just got the 'brush-off.'

They did get the brush-off, when they called a couple of times they said that there was no dog there at the time in line for an autoposy or one that had been done recently. Did I mention they put the dog in the freezer for 5 hours and then had to thaw the dog out prior to the autopsy? They didn't neglect to tell my parents this part. My parents were starting to think it was negligence on the vets part - and it was a coverup of sorts. The only thing wrong was he kept caughing all day long and then coughed loudly and then collapsed. My dad tried giving life-to-life via vet instruction from a straw, etc..., he revived him and then drove him there where the came out and said the dog had passed on and they didn't know why. It's not a large breed so it wasn't bloat. My Dad was just soo distraught he started walking out of the vets office and they said they needed to know the dog's name and my Dad could barely write his name "Lucky" on the form and he walked out and requested an autopsy. This all seems strange to me -- that's why I posted it - thanks for the reply!!