Better safe and sound

BELLA had come in for her annual vaccination and her owner seemed annoyed that it was taking a bit of time.

“My wife is ill and I need to pick the kids up from school. Can you not just jag her and let me tick this job off my list?”he asked.

He did look a bit frazzled and it would have been easy to comply with his request. But there was a very good reason not to.

Bella is an eight-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and about two thirds of her breed have a heart murmur – abnormal sounds that can be picked up by a stethoscope.

A normal heart, which is responsible for pumping oxygen-rich blood to the body, is composed of four chambers, separated by valves that open and shut in sequence so that blood only flows one way. In cavaliers in particular, damage can occur to the mitral valve. We call this mitral valve disease (MVD).

Affected dogs can live for a very long time without showing symptoms. But the condition is progressive, so increased leaking occurs and more pressure is put on the heart.

Eventually, the murmur gets louder, the heart enlarges and clinical signs develop. These include increased respiratory rate, tiredness, poor exercise tolerance, breathlessness, coughing and fainting.

Until recently, we would have noted the appearance of a symptomless heart murmur on the patient’s clinical record, advised the owner of the possibility of illness developing and suggested more regular heart checks.

Research has changed our thinking. The EPIC Study (evaluating pimobendan in dogs with cardiomegaly) involved treating 180 dogs who had audible murmurs with a drug, while others were put on a placebo.

The results were so positive that the trial was terminated early.

Dogs with MVD on the drug had their average asymptomatic period extended by approximately 15 months, resulting in them living longer and living better.

Which is why it was well worth ignoring Bella’s owner for a minute and reaching for that stethoscope.