Your doctor will listen to your heart and look for
signs of heart failure as well as other illnesses that may have caused your heart muscle to weaken or stiffen.
Some will develop clinical
signs of heart failure as outlined above and it can be difficult to determine how an individual dog's condition will progress, so this is why your veterinarian recommends tests and recheck appointments.
Not exact matches
Improvement in the initial
signs and symptoms
of heart failure,
as well
as reduced mortality, has already been reported with serelaxin from the RELAX - AHF trial.
It is a powerful
heart tonic, especially where there is edema and circulatory stagnation, such
as early
signs of congestive
heart failure.
As valvular leakage becomes more severe and the
heart enlarges, symptoms may include
signs of congestive
heart failure (exercise intolerance, weakness, difficulty or labored breathing, coughing) or fainting with exertion.
These are all even more important if your cat begins to show
signs of congestive
heart failure because they will serve
as the basis for choosing, dosing and monitoring response to various medical options for treating your cat's disease.
The QUEST Study established pimobendan
as the new standard
of treatment for dogs with congestive
heart failure (CHF) caused by MMVD
as it extended survival time.2 The veterinary community also sought to answer this question: Can pimobendan also delay the onset
of clinical
signs of CHF?
As previously described, many cats with CM eventually develop
signs of heart failure or produce blood clots within the
heart.
As the disease further progresses,
signs of heart failure ensue, including worsening respiratory
signs and cough, swollen belly and in worst cases «caval syndrome», which is a form
of cardiovascular collapse.
Affected cats may begin to develop problems
as early
as three months
of age, while less affected cats show
signs of heart failure by two to four years
of age.
Dogs in the early stages
of heartworm infection may show no symptoms, but eventually they can exhibit
signs such
as tiring easily, loss
of weight, breathing problems, and eventually liver disease and
heart failure.
If, however, the murmur is associated with structural
heart disease, your dog may display
signs of congestive
heart failure such
as coughing, weakness, or exercise intolerance.»
An additional
sign that may occur secondary to
heart disease in both dogs and cats can be reduced appetite, particularly in animals with right - sided
heart failure as the free fluid in the abdomen may cause the intestines to be somewhat inflamed however, this
sign is very non-specific and can be seen with a huge variety
of diseases affecting other organ systems.
Other
signs that may occur with
heart failure include vomiting, diarrhea or constipation
as a result
of poor blood circulation reaching the liver and intestines.
Thoracic radiographs can also identify
signs of right - sided
heart failure, in particular pleural effusion with will be seen
as rim
of fluid opacity surrounding the lungs and, if severe enough, will make the lungs and
heart very difficult to see.