HEART PROBLEMS?? - Page 1

Can you share any experiences with an "enlarged" heart problem? What could cause this in a young dog when about a year and a half prior to being almost 5 passed an echo cardiogram?? Heartworm free... Good weight very athletic build; a large female though...Only showing signs of putting her head on mommies lap and looking up "possibly saying--I don't feel well"... That is the only thing that has been recognized but now after the fact of the enlarged heart detection... That is all I know for now. Nan

PS: this is a friends dog.. But thank you in advance for any info you can offer... Nan

Dilated cardiomyopathy? Just because a dog has a clear echo one year does not mean it will be clear the next. It tends to be a "middle-aged" disease. Very common in Dobermans (my breed). Is this a shepherd?

No--A Samoyed. Thank you for your post; how do you know this?? What is the point for echo or CHIC health clearances?? Nan

As with many of the health clearance tests, they are meant to be done annually because they can change with age. I get my dogs' eyes Cerfed annually for my benefit. There is a genetic component which would show up early in life. I found a splinter in my dog's eye a couple of years ago when Cerfed. The dog had zero signs anything was wrong and this probably saved his eye.

Thank you greyhoundgirl; I was also a breeder who believed in yearly eye cerf's; always have as well as hips/elbows/eyes/thyroid and of course all and any can change at any given age or time. Thank god my friend gave her girl a checkup as she was going to start her in lure coursing and have some fun with her, she is already a GCH. so wanted to get her out and let her have some fun. Vet stated that any time she could drop dead as her heart is twice its usual size. They did a chest x-ray which showed it's size and vet and my friend were both astounded. Really a sad case...but glad they caught it sooner rather than later...

So my question(s) are what type of health reasons could give this heart in that short time this type of enlargement. Do know some other breeds have this problem as well as Samoyeds?? Goldens with SAS; Dobermans I was also aware of but was not sure of reasons; were they actually born with heart conditions or are they acquired for some reason(s) due to some type of pending health issues. Or what else might there be lurking in their backgrounds?? Looking for answers but probably won't be able to find any. Thanks for any info Nan