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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

My dog's just been diagnosed with Advanced Heart Disease

9 replies

AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 03/09/2020 14:25

Does anyone have any experience of this? I posted a couple of times about her collapsing and the vet hearing a murmur. We saw the cardiology specialist at our vets and she says it's advanced heart disease, my dog has a leaky valve which is letting fluid build up in her heart, which is enlarging it. The vet wants to see her again in a months time to see how far it's progressed and then hopefully we might have some idea of a timescale Sad

In the meantime I have to keep her as calm as possible and carefully monitor her breathing.

I just don't really know what to expect. How long can she live with this? With or without medication? At the moment I've had to say no to meds because we just can't afford it, I feel terrible but every penny is accounted for. There's just nothing spare Sad We have loans and credit cards to pay off after doing our kitchen earlier this year cost double what we expected Sad

She's passed out twice now, on 14th August and then 10 days later Sad Both times she came round within a few minutes, it's just so worrying.

OP posts:
Floralnomad · 03/09/2020 16:13

I’m sorry but if there is medication that would make your dog more comfortable then it has to have the medication . Can the vet not give you the medication on some kind of payment plan ?

StrongTea · 03/09/2020 16:20

Could the vet give you a prescription and then buy the drugs from animed or similar site. Can be a lot cheaper.

Borderstotheleftofme · 03/09/2020 16:31

I hope this doesn’t come across awfully..
I’d have her PTS.
Poor little soul is collapsing and the vet is saying it is advanced heart disease, I wouldn’t have thought medication would prolong her life that much, but maybe I am entirely wrong.
But then I have witnessed a lot of what I think is really poor behaviour from vets, medicating and testing desperately sick, elderly animals who all ended up getting PTS very soon after.
I think it was obvious they didn’t have long left and weren’t going to get better, it prolonged their suffering.
I don’t trust vets and if I had a dog collapsing with advanced heart disease that couldn’t handle any stress, I don’t think I would opt for medication, I would PTS

BiteyShark · 03/09/2020 16:38

If you can't afford medication I would have a frank discussion with your vet.

If it was my dog and if the condition caused pain, distress or discomfort I would either find the money if treatment made them more comfortable or I would PTS.

I just don't really know what to expect. How long can she live with this? With or without medication?

Really this is something I would be asking my vet. Is there any reason you haven't? If it was because it hadn't sunk in when you were there so you didn't ask then I would ask for a phone consultation to get the answers.

Original poster
AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 03/09/2020 17:59

@Borderstotheleftofme no it didn't, it's something I am vaguely considering to be honest. The main reason I'm hesitating is because she's just her normal self. When she's passed out she's been back to normal after 5 minutes. She's still devouring her food, happily plods round the garden and on walks etc. She definitely doesn't seem to be in pain or suffering in any way. But on the other hand, a part of me thinks that if she's going to die anyway, why medicate her to drag it out? Because that's all it would be doing, it's not something that's fixable. It almost seems like it might be kinder to PTS before it starts to make her suffer Sad
By the way, is your username in reference to your dogs? Mine is a Border Terrier Smile

@Floralnomad our vets has a huge sign behind the reception desk stating no payment plans, no exceptions Hmm Which is quite shit of them to be honest.

@StrongTea I always forget about doing that. I'll have to enquire about it.

OP posts:
Original poster
AintNobodyHereButUsChickens · 03/09/2020 18:03

@BiteyShark I will obviously ask my vet but in the meantime I thought I would ask here. Sorry, didn't realise I wasn't allowed to ask for advise or support or anything here Hmm

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 03/09/2020 18:20

[quote AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]@BiteyShark I will obviously ask my vet but in the meantime I thought I would ask here. Sorry, didn't realise I wasn't allowed to ask for advise or support or anything here Hmm[/quote]
I wasn't being sarcastic.

To get a better understanding of timeframes and what to expect is going to be down to how severe your dogs condition is and no one here can really tell you that. General things yes but when it comes down to decisions about medication/no medication it sounded like you hadn't actually asked your vet.

Namechange30000000 · 04/09/2020 00:56

My dog has a different heart disease (DMC). Medication really is vital, it drains the excess fluid. Any heart disease is only going to get progressively worse so if medication isn’t an option then yes I would PTS Sad x

user1471453601 · 04/09/2020 01:11

My dog had cardiomyopathy. We kept her alive, and comfortable, for five months. But she died, as we knew she must, after that. In retrospect, maybe we should have let her go when the vet gave us her diagnosis. I don't know.

Fortunately, money (within reason) was not an issue for us. But should we have let her go, for her sake, earlier? I'll never know.

Do what's in your heart. You know dear dog will not get better😣. Don't bankrupt yourselves on a cause that you cannot win.

I'm sorry

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