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Canine (Dog) Dilated Cardiomyopathy – Causes, Diagnosis, Symptoms

Filed under: Dog Health — Tags: , , , — Nik @ 6:26 am

Dog Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM):

Canine dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease affecting dogs and is featured by a weak heart muscle where the heart muscle loses its capacity to contract. This causes irregular heartbeats, due to which, the heart fails to pump the required amount of blood. These irregularities allow the ventricles of heart to stretch and leads to increased blood pressure inside the heart. Therefore, the two common characteristics of Canine dilated Cardiomyopathy are enlarged heart chambers and week heart muscles.

Canine dilated Cardiomyopathy is the second most common disease which causes death in dogs. Middle-aged giant breeds including dogs such as Mastiffs, Great Danes and Dobermans are mostly affected by this. Some medium sized breeds such as Boxers, Cocker Spaniels and English Springer Spaniels also gets affected occasionally.

Canine dilated Cardiomyopathy may occur due to several reasons such as:

  • Viral infection
  • Nutritional deficiency of amino acids (Taurine and Carnitine)
  • Genetically related problems

Generally, the symptoms of Canine dilated Cardiomyopathy go unnoticed by the owners of these dogs. There are some common signs related to the disease which are beneficial for the owner’s for DCM recognition:

  • Exercise intolerance and breathlessness: The most common sign as the heart muscle become weak and fails to contract properly, causing reduced amount of blood flow in the body. This makes dogs breathless during any physical activity; as a result of which they become lethargic.
  • Coughing: Due to the increased blood pressure inside the ventricles, a small amount of fluid leaks out to the lungs, making dogs cough frequently.
  • Excessive fluid release and deposition: Due to inadequate blood flow in the body, a number of hormones are released by the body as a backup plan to retain the amount of fluids in the body. These fluids get deposited in the peritoneal (stomach) and peripheral regions of the body and cause swelling.
  • Congestive heart failure in dogs is characterized by rapid breathing, excessive drooling, anorexia, blue tongue and complete collapse.

The common diagnostic techniques of DCM are:

  • Auscultation: A veterinarian uses a stethoscope to listen to the heart rhythm abnormality in Canine dilated Cradiomyopathic dogs.
  • Chest X-ray: It provides knowledge about the size and shape of the lungs and heart chambers.
  • Ultrasound examination: It provides more precise information about the heart structure.
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG): It is used to determine the abnormality of the heart rhythm.

A permanent cure is not available for dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs; however, proper care as soon as the symptoms are recognized can provide some relief to the dogs. Some dogs with congestive heart failure die immediately, but if provided with a proper diet and rest along with the prescribed medications, they may live longer. Common medicines used for the symptomatic treatment are diuretics, digitalis glycocydes and ACE inhibitors.