If it wasn't actually a specialist cardiologist who diagnosed Angels condition I agree with what's been said about a referral. Just as in human medicine a GP doesn't have the knowledge a cardiologist has and neither does a primary care vet.

It would be so wonderful if the vet was wrong and Angels condition is treatable. Good luck and don't lose any time. xxx

__________________

Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

Dont know whether ime not reading your post right but DCM is an enlarged heart.

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Yes DCM is an enlarged heart but it is possible to have a dog with an enlarged heart and to show no signs of illness.My normal vet saw the x-ray and said DCM /heart failure .The cardiologist did an echo and all 4 chambers are working normal.The only problem he has got is a slight murmur because of the enlarged heart and valves being stretched .

I also know of another OES ,has the same father as mine but not from the same litter,that has the same problem and that OES went through the same thing with the vet but luckily she got refered to a cardiologist .

__________________

Yes the thing is with dcm and what maked dcm so dangerous is that usually its instant death before you even know they have it. With monty i noticed he wasnt tolerating exercise very well and at 6 and a springer this wasnt right, he went to collapse but survived as not many do at all thats when it uaually instant death, tbh honest to this day i do wonder if that would have been the best. Its a horrible disease and i feel for anyone looking after a dog with it

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

It depends what breed is diagnosed with DCM on the outcome.I know dobermans and ,i think , boxers do literally just collapse and die.When I was in the vets with the cardiologist a dalmation walked in for it's check up .The dog was 14 and had DCM since it was 3 and I talked to the owner and the dog had no change in life style since it had been diagnosed.So that just goes to show some breeds can live a fairly normal life with it.

I have learnt the hard way .I now know if my dogs are diagnosed with any illness that is going to be with them for life I demand to see a specialist

__________________

Oh it certainly does depend on breed and some breeds are more tolerant to different things and how early its detected is another factor which can be delayed if the dog os coping if monty hadnt gone to collapse and been diagnosed earlier then he would have maybe stood a better chance, the vet was then talking about maybe having to see a cardiologist if the 2 meds wasnt showing any inprovement in a couple of days but he would have never have made it to a cardiologist, luckily he did show signs of improvement, his care had to be so strict his excercise built up very steadily, it was extremely stressfull looking after monty and his meds i always said had to be doone with military precision bless him, i do regret a lot of the months he was alive after the collapse but you do what you think is the right thing to do at the time. Harvey his brother our eldest now has been tested for it and luckily he had got away with it but that was really scarey.

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

At least your vet was suggesting a cardiologist .I was questioning my vet after 6 months and he still was adamant he was right .

I realise how stressful it is looking after a dog with DCM .I hated hearing Marley cough when we thought it was DCM

Plus we can't insure Marley now as it is on record he has DCM and no-one will listen about the misdiagnosis .His insurance company he was with at the time wanted £100 pound a month of us.

I'm so glad Harvey is ok

__________________

Sorry to hear about your dog Julianne. What was actually wrong then if the cardiologist overturned the DCM diagnosis.? He is perfectly right though about 'diagnosing' heart probems via an X-ray. OK a vet may have his suspicions which (may prove to be correct in some cases) but to actually definitively diagnose and treat a condition in the absence of an echo interpreted by a cardiologist, is downright irresponsible and amounts to negligence in my view. I'm sure you could have reported him for that.

Was the specialist unable to overturn the earlier misdiagnosis? I would certainly investigate this especially since it impacted on your insurance premiums.

Hope Marley is doing well nonetheless!

All that is wrong with Marley is that he has an enlarged heart and because of that he has some valves that leak .
When he was a pup he developed food allergies and we think he wasn't taking the nutrients out of the food he was given and that caused deficiencies when he was growing up and because of that strain was put on his heart and it became enlarged.He is now fed a raw diet and he can digest it properly.
The other OES I mentioned also had food issues .

The insurance company I was with knew he had been misdiagnosed but at renewel they said would look at the payments the following year to see if it could be reduced .He needed a year free of any heart illness but they wouldn't give me a guarantee that they would reduce the payments after a year and then they put the payments up to £100 a month and I told them

Marley is doing fine .He has a slight cough every now and then but he is fine.My new vet checks his pulses every year just to keep an eye on him for me.
DSCF0234.jpg

Marley is the one with short hair .Photo is taken after a 4 hour walk in Abriachan Scotland .

__________________