Dialated Cardiomyopathy
I was able to drive down and pick him up on Sunday evening. He has been stable all week with the exception of occasional burts of increased heart rate. I have to take him back down to the hospital tomorrow to meet with the Cardiologist, additional blood work and for a abdominal Ultrasound and xrays. He did have some fluids in his stomach and chest cavity. His prognosis is poor. We were told he is subject to sudden death. Has anyone ever had any experience with this condition. Wll be asking many questions of the Cardiologist not sure what we can do to help extend his life. Tony and Kathy  |
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| What a horrible thing to be going through. I know that Doberman Pinschers have a high incidence of this disease. Here's some information - which you may have already seen.
http://www.southpaws.com/topics/canine-dcm.html My thoughts and prayers are with Chester! Kristen |
| Tony and Kathy,
This is so sad.  Just reading the words, "he is subject to sudden death," made me start crying. It's so heartbreaking when our babies are sick and there's nothing we can do about it. I will keep you and Chester in my thoughts and prayers. Please know that everyone on this forum has experienced the loss of a beloved sheepie, and we are all here if you need us.
Chris |
| Not quite sure if your vet gave you an explanation of dialated cardiomyopathy, but in a nutshell your dog's heart hasn't the strength to pump blood throughout his body. Might be from gentics, or may have been caused by a pevious virus/illness. The body compensates for the lack of blood being pumped by filling the lower chambers of the heart with even more blood. And because of this, the lower chambers stretch and become even weaker than they already are.
Prognosis and treatment will depend on how early your pup was diagnosed. If found early enough, the damage to the heart wall can be minimal and with medication and a change of diet and activity level may prolong his life. At least in humans, if the damage to the heart is severe enough, and the patient does not respong to any other treatments, then a heart transplant could be discussed. I hope this was caught early enough and Chester and your cardiologist is able to get him the treatment that lets him live and even longer life. All the best. |
| Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Have been researching this disease and it appears that they have him on all the normal medications.
Did find some information realting to L-Carnitine and Taurine utilized as supplements. Seems to help in some cases when the disease is caused by a deficiency of these amino acids. Unfortunately also says these are rare cases. In any case we will definitely ask the cardiologist about this as a possible treatment. Thanks Tony and Kathy |
| Surprised Taurine is used. That's the "active" ingredient in a lot of the energy drinks (Red Bull, etc.). Would think it would speed up the heart rate, like caffeine, which is one of the first things recommended to reduce in humans when related to the heart.
Any updates Tony? |
| Hi All,
I should have posted a update sooner but just been busy with chester, kids and getting ready for Christmas. Up unitl 2 days ago chester was doing great. We did meet with the cardiovet weekend before last and his bloodwork, ultrasound and xrays all looked good. The cardiovet also said we had to take a wait and see approach. The diagnosis of DCM by the ICU vet may have been premature. As he expalined it to me, its like the chicken or the egg. If the rapid heart rate caused chesters heart to enlarge, the that would be tachycardio induced cardio myopathy. If the enlarged heart is the cause of the rapid heart rate then it is DCM. TICM if caught early enough may be treatable, if we can control his heart rate with medication then hopefully in time his heart will return to normal size,wall thicknes and function. If not then prognosis is poor. Probably need a couple of months then hopefully see some change on follow up xrays. We did test him for taurine but his levels were normal. We are just now trying to adjust his medication because in last 2 days seems like he is retaining fluids. Poor guy is taking 6 different prescriptions 24 pills a day. The cardiovet has been great, gave us his email and has returned our calls promptly. So we are hopefull. He did have a holter monitor on for 24 hours and we are still waiting for the results. We need to see the cardiovet this coming wed. for additional follow up. Happy Holidays to Everyone, Tony and Kathy |
| I am very sorry to hear about Chester. I hope and pray he will take well to the medications, all 24 pills, every day, and his heart will return to normal size. We have a very similar situation with Baby, our 8-year-old Great Pyrenees, who, until four days ago, appeared healthy and vibrant. Baby is now in guarded condition, raised from very critical last night, at an emergency hospital in Northbrook, Illinois.
Four days ago Baby started experiencing diarrhea and uncontrolled urinating in the house. She also appeared listless and lethargic. Two days later, she wouldn't eat her food, so we knew it might be serious. My wife gave her cooked rice---something she always enjoyed immensely when she's had diarrhea in the past---but this time she only ate a cupful. To make a long story short, I took her to our regular vet who, after doing some preliminary testing, i.e. ekg and X-rays, realized Baby is very sick. She sent us to the emergency care center fifty miles from our house, where Baby was admitted at 1:30 a.m. today in critical condition. I went up there today to visit her and learned that she suffers from Dialated Cardiomyopathy. Her heart is exceptionally large, the heart walls are paper-thin, and all her chambers are stretched out. Also, this condition has caused some damage to her kidneys and she is retaining fluid in her stomach. This has caused problems for the doctor in trying to determine the correct dosage and type of medication for her. The prognosis is poor, but we hope we can bring her home in a couple of days so that she can have some love in her remaining time with us. Thank you for sharing your information with everyone. I will write again when I know more. Jack Byrne |
| Jack,
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Is this something that is caused by a virus or other illness - or is it the primary illness?? I can't imagine the pain you are going through. Sending White Light to Baby - I hope she recovers and can come home to spend time with you and your wife. Great Pyrenees are beautiful dogs! Kristen |
| Kristin:
It is my understanding that it is a primary illness that seems to occur more often in large-breed dogs as they get older. Thank you for your prayers. I will be going to visit Baby today. Jack |
| Hi to Tony,Kathy and Jake,
I'm so very sorry about Chester and Baby. I pray that each will pull through. You'll both be in my thoughts. Tony, I apologize for the lateness of my post as I hadn't seen it before and wondering how Chester is doing? Jake, I pray for your Baby to recover. It's obvious both Chester and Baby are well loved. Hugs to you both and belly rubs for Chester and Baby |
| It is never easy when our fur babies are sick. Even though the vets do all they can, we always feel like we should be able to do "something" to make them better. It is a very helpless feeling, and for that, I will pray for you both to have the strength to do what you need to do.
Tony, here's hoping that Chester's second dr's visit brings the good news of TICM instead of DCM. And Jack, my prayer is that Baby will feel the love of her family around here in her final days. May God guide you both through this difficult time. Chris |
| Jack, We are so sorry to hear about Baby. Baby and your family will be in our prayers. Hopefully in time Baby will show some improvement. Chetser was diagnosed with his heart condition a little over 2 months ago and is just now responding well to his treatment. It is still too early to determine if it is DCM or TICM. The vet said it would take at least 3 to 4 months before he would expect to see a change is the size of his heart. In the mean time we are treating him as if it is DCM. Please let us know what your vet says and what treatment he is prescribing, perhaps we can exchange some information. If there is something that your vet is doing that ours is not, I would like to know and visa versa.
Also, thanks to everyone for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Tony and Kathy |
| I had the same thing happen with my first oes about 6 years ago, his name was Woody and he was also 6 years old, the vet said thats a common age for it to show up. She called it cogenital cardiomyopathy. Said she was sure he was born with it and that most dogs just die suddenly like what was already said. His heart took up his whole chest and he was in congestive heart failure, he wouldn't eat and he was on medication. It was a horrible time because my father had a stroke at the same time. After a couple months of meds and almost daily visits to the vet he got a secondary infection which vet said was common and died the next day and my dad died 3 days later. That vet looked it up and said oes are susceptible to it . He was the runt of the litter and now I have another runt her name is Gypsy and she has an enlarged heart but it's not the same thing and she's 12 years old. I hope the best for both of you. It was one of the hardest things to go through. Lori |
| I'm glad I found you guys... my best friend, the kindest person I knew,
Sunne, our Pyr died 2 days ago of cardiac arrest. Tony and Kathy, I can't express how great it is that you have taken these measures to try to secure Chester's health... I'm grappling with feelings now of not doing enough for our beloved friend... I hope Chester is still doing well. Sunne tore his ACL and went in for surgery to repair it a few weeks ago, where we found he had a cancerous tumor in that leg, which was also partially shattered. We took him to an oncologist to find out about chemotherapy late last week, and they recommended amputation. He also had an enlarged heart we found out through all of this, which explained a raspy cough that had become more prevalent in last few months. The day before yesterday he hid himself under a bush in our yard... I came home from work and took him to the vet where he stabilized. That night he went in for the amputation, a difficult choice, knowing that he was already weak. He survived the procedure, his second surgery in as many weeks, then his heart stopped an hour later. They couldn't bring him back. I thought for sure he we'd get him back, see him pain free again, playing with his sister Cleo in our yard. I'll never forget my time with him, petting him, smelling him, before I left the vet. It's crushing, looking back. He was the epitome of kindness, loyalty, gentleness, he was amazing to our 3 kids, never ever complained even though I know his last days were excruciating.... I wish I could have him back, pamper him, say goodbye to him. He truly was my best friend. Kudos to you for doing all this research and getting him the proper meds and care... there is no expense too great to keep Chester with you... it sounds like you have been extraordinarily diligent in your pursuit. Give him a hug from us. And thanks for letting me unload on your thread... It helps to read what you wrote. |
| Missing Sunne-
I'm so sorry to hear about your devastating loss. It is obvious how much you loved him. Please don't feel you didn't do enough, sadly sometimes there just isn't anything you can do. I hope your sadness will pass and you can remember all the things he did that made you laugh. |
| Hello All, Sorry I should have posted an update on Chester sooner but have been busy. He did have his follow up with the Cardiologist 2 months ago, unfortunately there was no appreciable difference in the size of his heart. This confirms the diagnosis of DCM. He was having a hard time initially with all the medications infact the one prescription digoxin was actually making him sicker. He dropped to 70 pounds from his normal 105 and looked awful. The vet had us adjust the dosage for the digoxin and he started to improve.
As of this moment he is doing great. He is back to his normal weight. His appetite is good and he is back to doing all his little quirky things. In fact can not grab a set of car keys without him bolting to the front door looking for a ride. He will be going for another follow up in 1 month. As for now we are just happy he is back to his old self, in fact if you did not know he was ill you would never guess. Not sure how long he will be with us but as long as he has a good quality of life we are gratefull. Thank you all, Tony and Kathy |
 I hope Chester continues to improve, what relief you must feel. |
| wow i was glas to see this sight. my great dane was just diagnosed with dcm and i was wondering if anyone could tell me if his terrible lack of appetite is normal at this stage. he was diagnosed less thana week ago. he is also very lethargic. thanks in advance for any reply.
jen |
| We just lost our 7 yr. old Pyrenees early this morning to cardiomyopathy. Just diagnosed yesterday, brought him home, and he continued to weaken. So very sad. It was sooo very fast. Thank goodness he didn't have to suffer any longer. It came on so fast. He was (seemed) just fine four days ago. Our Newfoundland had the same thing 8 years ago at 7.5 years old, but he suffered a bit and we finally had to have him put down. I could still cry about that if I talked more about him. They are so wonderful, and then there is so small yippy dogs (nothing against those dogs), but they seem to live forever! He's laying his wonderful sweet head in God's hands now.
Ann |
| Ann,
I'm so sorry about your loss. It's so difficult to lose a member of the family; and so suddenly. |
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