Bob

Bob came to see us initially in April this year, when his owner noticed that he was becoming more tired on walks & had developed a cough.

We already knew that Bob had a heart murmur, but on this visit it was found that he also had an abnormal heart rhythm. It was arranged that Bob come in for an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart to check the heart valves & muscles) and an electrocardiogram (otherwise know as an ECG to check the electrical activity in the heart).

On the heart scan, we found that Bob had a leaky heart valve. These valves usually prevent blood from flowing the wrong way through the heart, but in Bob’s case, when the heart pumped, as well as most of the blood flowing forwards, some also leaked backwards. This meant that the heart became congested with blood and got enlarged. In turn this put extra pressure on the heart muscle affecting the way that the normal heart rhythm is maintained. The abnormal rhythm was shown on an ECG trace.

Bob was started on a medication called an ACE inhibitor. This has numerous effects on the circulation and is particularly effective in dogs with valve conditions in the heart. He has made a good improvement at home and is a much brighter dog again.

We also repeated the ECG two weeks later and this showed a big change in the heart rhythm, with many fewer irregular beats occurring.

Bob will still need careful monitoring and long term care, but is showing really good signs of improvement so far.