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Heart diseases symptoms in dogs 

Vet examing sick dog with stethoscope

Heart disease is  a condition that affects your  heart or blood vessels and interferes with their normal functions. It’s not only common among humans but it’s also a problem in dogs. Heart diseases affect  dog’s heart or blood vessels and interferes with their normal functions. It is estimated that 7.8 million dogs in the United States have heart disease. That means approximately 10% of all dogs in the United States have heart disease. 

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Vet examing sick dog with stethoscope

In this article you’ll get to know the types of heart diseases in dogs, heart diseases symptoms in dogs and how its diagnosed. 

Types of heart diseases in dogs

  • Congestive Heart Failure: this occurs when your dog’s heart has trouble pumping the proper amount of blood throughout the body.
  • Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy: This affects the cardiac muscles and reduces the heart’s ability to produce enough pressure to pump blood throughout the vascular system.
  • Pulmonic Stenosis is a heart defect that obstructs blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery.
  • Canine Valvular disease occurs when the heart valves weaken and begin to leak
  • Arrhythmias occur when the dog have an issue  within the electrical system and interferes with how it’s telling the heart to beat
  • Pericardial disease develops when the sac that surrounds the heart fills with fluid and affects the dog’s heartbeat

Heart diseases Symptoms in dogs

Dogs with heart diseases tend to have symptoms such as:

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  • Persistent Cough or Dry cough that follows physical activity or intensifies at night
  • Breathlessness, heavy breathing or excessive panting
  • A heart murmur (which will be heard by your vet)
  • Collapsing/fainting 
  • Rapid weight loss
  • Abdominal swelling
  • Restlessness when sleeping
  • Fatigue
  • Reduced willingness to walk or exercise
  • Loss of appetite
  • Distended abdomen
  • Trouble sleeping or coughing.

If you see any of these signs and symptoms in your dog, you should have it  seen by a veterinarian immediately.

Diagnosing Heart Disease in Dogs

Veterinarian  can detect whether a dog is suffering from heart diseases during routine or with a techniques. These tests and procedures include ; 

  • chest x-ray 
  • cardiac evaluation
  • electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • echocardiogram
  • cardiac catheterization
  • blood and urine tests.

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