Enlarged Heart in Dog

Enlarged Heart in Dog

A dog with an enlarged heart may seem perfectly healthy when at rest around the house, but it cannot endure continuing exertion. The condition seems to develop in young dogs that arc over-worked. If the strain is too great for the heart muscle, it stretches and stays stretched. Its elasticity is lost. Naturally, if it occupies a larger space in the chest, it can be heard with the ear over this large area.

There is a very noticeable contrast between the sound of a normal heart and that of ass enlarged one. Enlarged heart conditions may be found in sled dog brokers too early and used for heavy loads, in field-trial coon and fox hounds, and even in setters and pointers. Since the heart cannot be reduced to normal, it will never become strong enough to allow the dog to indulge in what would have been its normal activities.

Enlargement of the heart in dogs may not be easily noticeable until the dog suffers from excessive breathing and cough infection and an enlarged size of the abdomen. The following is some information on the enlarged heart in the dog.

Enlarged Heart in Dog

• One of the most common reasons for heart failure in dogs is an enlarged heart.
• The enlargement of the heart causes malfunction of the process of pumping in and out blood. Apart from pumping in and out of blood the heart also takes part in the process of directing the flow of calcium which also gets hampered to a great extent. In an enlarged heart, a blockage develops which causes the heart to malfunction.
• The enlarged heart is characterized by thinning of the walls of the heart. The heart also gradually becomes quite flabby and dilated.
• It is after a few months of the on start of the enlargement of the heart the signs of illness keep on showing in the dog. If the symptoms of the disease get ignored, the heart would get completely damaged and ultimately the dog would die due to heart failure. The dog would be dying within 1 to 2 years of the infliction of the disease.
• The actual cause behind the thinning of the walls of the heart and the enlargement of the heart may be the deficiencies of parvovirus, taurine, and adriamycin.
• The disease has been mainly found to be attacking middle-aged dogs. The breeds that are mainly studied to be the common victims of the disease are those that are belonging to large groups like the Doberman, Pinscers, Saint Bernards, Great Danes, Cocker Spaniels, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, and such.
• Symptoms of an enlarged heart in dogs would be a failure of the heart functions, experiencing of breathing problems, enlargement of the abdomen due to accumulation of fluid, formation of cough, and such.

For diagnosing the enlarged heart the X-ray of the chest is taken and then keenly studied. The electrical reading of the heart or electrocardiography is another method of diagnosing heart-related diseases.

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