Roxy's Vet Appt today..

[Diamond]

My agility trainer had reccomended Roxy gets a EKG to make sure her heart is in good condition before we start really working on her endurance.

Unfortunately my vet doesn't have the proper equipement to do so, but she did listen to her heart extensively and said there's nothing she can hear that sounds abnormal. Her heart was a little fast, but she's so nervous at the vet's she said she expected that.

So our plan is to start slowly working on stamina, if in a few weeks there's no improvement and she still tires quickly we'll go in for a chest x-ray. If the chest x-ray shows anything abnormal, off to a cardiovascular specialist. She said all in all I'll be forking out around $800!

So as you can imagine, I'm hoping that we'll start her serious excercise, and everything will turn out fine!

As a side, I thought Roxy had been having an allergic reaction to a protein source, so we had switched back to kibble. Still itching, and it's getting worse.

My vet said in our records it shows that a few weeks earlier last year, I had brought her in with the same problem, but she had had one flea on her entire body. So she had attributed the skin infection and itching to an allergic reaction to fleas. So her verdict is that Roxy is in fact allergic to fleas, but she also has environmental allergies.

So she'll be on steroids for the next two weeks. Fun fun fun, lots of drinking and peeing!! But hopefully the poor girl can have a rest from the itchiness.

All in all she was very good, or snarling once or twice, no biting! Just the teeth flash, which the vet is thankful for! She did comment on how much she's improved though. A year ago Roxy had to be muzzled at every vet visit regardless of what was going on, but even with all of the touching, and listening to heart, without a muzzle, Roxy was pretty good!

I'm so proud of my little girl!

[fairlight]

Uma just went to the vet too today Diamond (but that is another post) In response to a bit of a rabid heart beat for Roxy....I have to agree. Let's face it, who likes to go to the doctors or the vet?....Even oour blood pressure climbs. Are you talking about a halter monitor test where Roxy would have to wear the halter to 24 hours and then the tape would be sent out and reviewed? All I can say is Oh my gosh! That is some big time money! Gald everything turn out okay with Roxy....and you know what? If she were my dog I would be proud too! Good going Roxy the muzzleless!

[Diamond]

ROFL@ fairlight

I'm not exactly sure what the cardiovascular specialist would do. As Roxy's half Doberman, a typical problem with the breed is having a thin wall on the left ventricle. The left ventricle supplies blood to the majority of the body hence the seriousness. The right supplies only the lung, and something else, maybe it was the brain... left ventricle everything else.

I believe she mentioned and ultrasound, to rule out DSM (the name of the condition often seen in Dobies) which would give a 3D view of the heart to show if the left ventricle was the proper thickness (three times the right).

I'm pretty sure there's nothing wrong with her heart, but I just want to be sure before I really start working her. I mean, I could literally excercise her to death if it is a weak heart that makes her so easy to tire.

I'll go see Uma's thread now

[weezyNollie]

I would recommend finding a vet hospital that can do an EKG. This shouldn't be that hard to find, as it should be standard for their anesthesia monitoring and it shouldn't be hard to hook up the dog to one.

The problem with just listening is that you can't listen to an arrythmia always. It's a much more visual way of knowing if there is a cardiac abnormality. Next in line would be an echocardiogram (or heart ultrasound), which would be pretty expensive. An EKG should be relatively inexpensive.

You just don't want to try and test things out and cause your dogs heart to fail, or become worse by exhaustion.

Good luck.

[fairlight]

On an average would you know what that costs weezy?

[weezyNollie]

It should be under 100 dollars? It really should have close to no cost, cause it's not expensive to utilize. Once the equipment is purchased, it's just paying for the interpretation.

But my guess would be anywhere from 25-75.00?

[Diamond]

I believe I'd be making a trip to the big city to get an EKG done, but I know of another vet hospital it's called, here in town that's reccomended for even some "special" surgeries.. Maybe I'll give them a call.

I can't remember if my vet said SHE could do the ultrasound or the specialist would.

The thing around here is, if you go to another vet, that isn't yours, they milk you for as much as they can because they know your not a regular.

So if I would pay $50 at my vets, I'll wind up paying $100 or more at anothers *sigh*.

And I adore my vet, because she's brutally honest with herself. If she isn't sure, she tells me so, and sends me off to a specialist who will.

Thanks weezy, I'll look into places around here that can do EKG's. I have a feeling if any, it'll be the animal hospital.

I'd just really feel more comfortable if I knew before we started doing anything. Like the HD scare a little over a year ago. I brought her home, "helped" her everywhere, treated her like glass.. LOL. And everything was fine! LMAO!

It's just nice to know to ease your mind

[~WelshStump~]

Originally Posted by Diamond

My agility trainer had reccomended Roxy gets a EKG to make sure her heart is in good condition before we start really working on her endurance.
-----
As a side, I thought Roxy had been having an allergic reaction to a protein source, so we had switched back to kibble. Still itching, and it's getting worse.

My vet said in our records it shows that a few weeks earlier last year, I had brought her in with the same problem, but she had had one flea on her entire body. So she had attributed the skin infection and itching to an allergic reaction to fleas. So her verdict is that Roxy is in fact allergic to fleas, but she also has environmental allergies.

So she'll be on steroids for the next two weeks. Fun fun fun, lots of drinking and peeing!! But hopefully the poor girl can have a rest from the itchiness.

Join the club! First, Jinjo has a heart murmur, and although it doesn't seem to bother him he does get tired to quick for me to consider Agility anymore (go figure I buy a dog JUST for agility and thats what happens).
Second, I feel for you there . Worst part is, its seems the more I treat Jinjo for fleas (which I now have proof on tape, scotch tape that is) the worse they get!!! I'm ordering frontline off Drs.FS now, WONT buy from Petco ($64 for 3 Vs $33 for 3!!!).