A panel of leading veterinary cardiologists (Atkins, Bonagura, Ettinger, Fox,
Gordon, Haggstrom, Hamlin, Keene, Luis-Fuentes, and Stepien) have just published
a Consensus Statement on "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Canine
Chronic Valvular Heart Disease."  It discusses classifying the degree of
progression of MVD -- Stages A, B1, B2, C, and D -- and the types of treatment
recommended for each stage.

In the report, Cavaliers are singled out for special attention. For example,
every CKCS which does not have an MVD murmur is in the Stage A classification.

The Guidelines are summarized at
http://cavalierhealth.org/mitral_valve_disease.htm#ACVIM_Consensus_Statement (or
http://tinyurl.com/ycexlj9 for short)

and a pdf of the report is available, for a short time only, at
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122604679/PDFSTART
--
Rod Russell
Orlando, Florida

Hello,

Sent a IM message to you but did not get through.  I would like to meet some people that ride and like to get out and have a good time. I would also like to meet a guy / people that ride and have other similar interests. Hit the road early and ride all day, but always nice to get out at night too be it on bike or not.  I like nude rallies and have fun.

I am online  http://toseekbikers.beep.com/files/profile.html and let's chat now. Wait for your message.

Regards,

unfortunately none of the vets are very optimistic.  There seem to be some
strange growths on his intestines as well so they believe the cancer is likely
malignant and has spread.   Given his age and other issues I don't want to put
him through too much.

Again I thank you all for your support and wish you the best of luck with your
beautiful dogs.  The best breed ever.  We were so lucky to have our loving guy
for 13 years.

So sorry - I know how hard it is to get scary news.  I will hope for the best
and keep you both in my thoughts.

Best,
Debbie

--- In MVDincavaliers@..., "Laura" <laura_griffith@...> wrote:
>
> just wanted to update everyone. thank you so much for the information.
>
> unfortunately we got bad news.   ironically after being tracked for MVD for 5
years his heart is not the issue.   he has a tumor on his liver.
>
> Laura
>

just wanted to update everyone. thank you so much for the information.

unfortunately we got bad news.   ironically after being tracked for MVD for 5
years his heart is not the issue.   he has a tumor on his liver.

Laura

A couple of months ago, I brought it up to our old cardiologist again and she said she would contact Dr. Ortin in CO [...]
A week ago, our present cardiologist said that they are no longer doing it in Colorado. 

By Sara B. Hansen, The Coloradoan

Best-seller's puppy gets a new heart valve at CSU 

Gruen, the New York Times best-selling author of Water for Elephants, got the puppy, whose parents are a therapy dog and a police dog, after the family's 14-year-old dog died of lymphoma.

The puppy's heart defect, a leaky valve, was discovered as a heart murmur during a routine wellness check when Sophie was getting some of her puppy shots.

At first it didn't seem serious, but by the time the puppy went in for her final set of shots, the ultrasound results were grim. The right side of Sophie's heart was four times the size of the left, and the vet gave her two months to live.

"It was a sucker punch," Gruen said. "We'd just lost a dog. I didn't think we and the kids could go through that again."

Turned to the Internet

She turned to the Internet and quickly learned that not only is the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital one of the few places in the country to get a heart valve replacement surgery, but Dr. Chris Orton (pictured below) has one of the highest success rates with open-heart surgeries to replace faulty valves.

Orton has been performing open-heart surgeries on dogs since 1991, and started replacing canine heart valves in 1996. He's performed more than 100 such surgeries, including a 2005 heart valve replacement on a nine-month old yellow Labrador who belonged to seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

The demand for the surgeries is high, but Colorado State University now does only one or two per year. "We've scaled back. We just don't have the resources to run a national referral service," Orton said.

The surgeries are labor intensive for Orton, the anesthesiologists and the critical care team. "I wish we had more resources," Orton said. "I get weekly e-mails from people asking me about the possibility of doing the surgery." Neither Orton nor Gruen would say how much Sophie's surgery cost.

Relentless appeals to save Sophie

Gruen was relentless in her appeals to Orton. She bombarded him with tearful voice mail messages begging him to save Sophie.  "I can be very persuasive," she said. "I was begging, crying, pleading on his voice mail. She had one valve that was wrong. Otherwise she was perfectly healthy."

Orton hoped to do Sophie's surgery in July when she was older, but her heart deteriorated too quickly.  He replaced her leaky valve with a porcine bio plastic heart valve. The body is less likely to reject the pig valves, which last 10 to 15 years in people.

Sophie has new porcine bio plastic heart valve

"I hope in this case, it will last a lifetime," Orton said. "This will significantly extend her life. She wouldn't have made it to a year without the surgery."

Sophie will be on blood thinners for three months to make sure she doesn't develop any clots, but then should live a normal life.

"She's got a few things on her side," Orton said. "She's young and she's a dog. She can handle it."

Astonishing changes

Sophie had her surgery April 7 and by the next weekend was able to leave the hospital and stay at a Fort Collins hotel with Gruen. She's been coming to the vet hospital for daily blood tests.

On Friday, she had another blood test and a final heart ultrasound. The comparison between her pre-surgery ultrasound and her Friday ultrasound were dramatic.

"I'm seeing astonishing changes," Gruen said. "At first she was sleeping a lot, but now she wants to play." Sophie, who is underweight, is getting her appetite back. On Thursday, she ate 1¼ chicken and two cans of dog food.

Author made local appearance to read from "Water for Elephants"

During her stay in Fort Collins, Gruen stopped into Reader's Cove book store, 1001 E. Harmony Road, unit C. "I love indie book stores. The indies made my career," she said.

Gruen walked in and introduced herself and asked what she could do to help the store. Owner Charles Kaine said, "I need to shake your hand. You helped me sell a lot of books." On Friday night, Gruen read from "Water for Elephants" and autographed books at Readers Cove.

Sunday, Gruen and Sophie flew home to North Carolina, where they rejoined the rest of the family: Gruen's husband, three children, two goats, two horses, four cats and another dog.

------------------------------------

Story and photos reprinted with permission from the Coloradoan. Originally published in the Coloradoan, Sunday, April 19, 2009.

 

They did do an xray and the radiologist felt that heart was possible although likely not the issue.   They also did blood work and analysis on the fluid.   All were inconclusive but vet felt strongly felt we were dealing with some kind of cancer and was suggesting ultrasound since dog is not having any respiratory issues.   Thus my question about whether anyone else's dog has stomach fluid but no coughing.

My dog has had a loud murmur for some time although only moderate enlargement.   I am planning to take him to the cardiologist tomorrow despite what they say, maybe it will be a waste but we'll see.   He is all bloated and we need to do something, not sure how long he can go on like this.

 

Laura Griffith
mailto:laura_griffith@yahoo.com

---

From: Barb Hoorman <BMark9@...>
To: "MVDincavaliers@yahoogroups.co.uk" <MVDincavaliers@yahoogroups.co.uk>
Sent: Wed, October 14, 2009 10:22:29 PM
Subject: Re: [MVDincavaliers] fluid in abdomen but no coughing

 

Hi laura

I am curious what has been done so far on your dog? I am a little perplexed how a possible fluid buildup due to heart could not be detected as I would think the backflow would be quite loud. Did your vet at the very least xray the abdomen?

Barb

On Oct 14, 2009, at 9:14 PM, lynn williams <bellacavalier@ yahoo.com> wrote:

 

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/ Portals/0/ media/Congestive %20Heart% 20Failure. pdf Fluid in the abdomen is a symptom of right heart failure,often seen with tricuspid valve disease.MVD can worsen a diseased tricuspsid.The meds used are the same as with MVD but your vet may withdraw the fluid from the abdomen as welllynn.   --- On Wed, 10/14/09, Laura <laura_griffith@ yahoo.com> wrote: From: Laura <laura_griffith@ yahoo.com> Subject: [MVDincavaliers] fluid in abdomen but no coughing To: MVDincavaliers@ yahoogroups. co.uk Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 5:23 PM   My dog is 13 and we have been following his MVD for a number of years. Last Saturday we noticed he wasn't eating well and his abdomen was distended. Our normal vet feels that this is not a heart issue and suspects cancer and wants to do an ultrasound. My aunt works at a large emergency vet clinic and had them look over my dogs lab work and they felt it WAS related to heart. Any one else have dog with ascites but no coughing or lung issues. Thank you so much for any information.

ach-table div div a { text-decoration: none; } div.attach-table { width: 400px; } --> ->

 

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/Portals/0/media/Congestive%20Heart%20Failure.pdf Fluid in the abdomen is a symptom of right heart failure,often seen with tricuspid valve disease.MVD can worsen a diseased tricuspsid.The meds used are the same as with MVD but your vet may withdraw the fluid from the abdomen as welllynn.   --- On Wed, 10/14/09, Laura <laura_griffith@yahoo.com> wrote: From: Laura <laura_griffith@yahoo.com> Subject: [MVDincavaliers] fluid in abdomen but no coughing To: MVDincavaliers@yahoogroups.co.uk Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 5:23 PM   My dog is 13 and we have been following his MVD for a number of years. Last Saturday we noticed he wasn't eating well and his abdomen was distended. Our normal vet feels that this is not a heart issue and suspects cancer and wants to do an ultrasound. My aunt works at a large emergency vet clinic and had them look over my dogs lab work and they felt it WAS related to heart. Any one else have dog with ascites but no coughing or lung issues. Thank you so much for any information.

--- In MVDincavaliers@..., Laura Griffith <laura_griffith@...>
wrote:
>
>
> Thank you so much for responding.   He is not taking any
> currently because he had no symptoms until recently.  Our
> usual vet felt this was not due to MVD so didn't even
> recommend seeing the cardiologist. She wants to do
> expensive ultrasound to check for masses.
>
>

The distension could very well be ascites due to a heart issue. The cardiac
cough usually is due to the enlarged heart impacting the breathing passage.  It
is not directly related to fluid-retention.

It is true that MVD usually results in an enlarged left side of the heart and
backflow up into the lungs, causing them to fill with fluid. But ascites is a
symptom of MVD, too, and the fluids could go south into the abdomen rather than
go north to the lungs.

In view of your Cavalier's age and history of MVD, I suggest that you take him
to a cardiologist.
--
Rod Russell
Orlando, Florida

Ours has the cough, but it has been better lately.  Trina has had the same
symptoms as yours...it is usually fluid retention due to the MVD.  Her meds
really help with that...what meds is your dog taking??  Best wishes and will
keep good thoughts...Carol
--- In MVDincavaliers@..., "Laura" <laura_griffith@...> wrote:
>
> My dog is 13 and we have been following his MVD for a number of years.   Last
Saturday we noticed he wasn't eating well and his abdomen was distended.  Our
normal vet feels that this is not a heart issue and suspects cancer and wants to
do an ultrasound.  My aunt works at a large emergency vet clinic and had them
look over my dogs lab work and they felt it WAS related to heart.
>
> Any one else have dog with ascites but no coughing or lung issues.
>
> Thank you so much for any information.
>

My dog is 13 and we have been following his MVD for a number of years.   Last
Saturday we noticed he wasn't eating well and his abdomen was distended.  Our
normal vet feels that this is not a heart issue and suspects cancer and wants to
do an ultrasound.  My aunt works at a large emergency vet clinic and had them
look over my dogs lab work and they felt it WAS related to heart.

Any one else have dog with ascites but no coughing or lung issues.

Thank you so much for any information.

Just to let other List members know that this information has appeared on the UK CKCS CLUB WEB SITE

There is now a Requirement that only Puppies from Heart and Eye Tested Parents can Advertised on the Club Puppy Register.

This form is now on the CLUB Web Site

www.thecavalierclub.co.uk

What a Giant Step Forward the UK CKCS Club has now made ,in trying to give our Cavalier Breed the chance of a Healthier, Longer Life.

Bet Hargreaves

Could I mention this New Web Site by Carol Fowler, for Lovers of Our Cavalier Breed .

www.cavaliercampaign.com

Bet Hargreaves