As with humans, nature has endowed our pets an amazing ability to compensate for a long time while dealing with impending organ failure. In other words, a lot of diseases proceed in “silent mode” with little or no clinical signs. Often even the most astute owner may miss subtle signs of deterioration. However, when these signs become really apparent, the disease and its effect on the body as a whole may be irreversible. This is often the case with underlying cardiovascular disease. Although pets do not typically experience a “heart attack” as we know in humans, they are prone to a wide variety of primary and secondary heart issues ranging from arrhythmias and conductional heart blocks to cardiomyopathies and heart based tumors. Where we could express ourselves if our heart was to race or flutter, our pet may remain expressionless. A change in exercise tolerance (a retrospective opinion that your pet cannot walk or play as hard as before) may be a warning. If your pet shows exercise intolerance, laboured breathing or cough, loss of appetite, collapse or fainting, or unexplained weight gain or loss then a physical examination is warranted. Special diagnostics including blood & urine tests, chest X-rays, ECG (electrocardiogram), and echocardiogram (ultrasound) may be necessary. In the interim, supportive drug therapy and diet/lifestyle modifications may be suggested. Our goal is to work in conjunction with your wishes and to improve the quality of your pet’s life.
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