How to know if your dog has heart problems | Pet care.
How to know if your dog has heart problems
One of the major threats to the health of a dog, especially when it is becoming greater, passes through the heart: heart disease can be fatal, and sadly, they are very common among our pets. That
is so important to detect in time, and know how deal with them
properly, to be able to leave the animal in the hands of the vet...
In the case of small breeds, they tend to be of the heart valves that fail, due to the bacteria that commonly infect their mouths but end up causing, or said, valvular insufficiency.
For their part, the big races see how the heart does not have enough force to bombard all the blood that their bodies need, since the organ in question is growing too, avoiding that the valves touch (dilated cardiomyopathy).
The cough is also an important ally for you, since it continues to be a symptom of impaired breathing.
Out of doubt, nothing like take the pulse of your pet; It is the best way to detect early heart failure: get it tipping side, in a relaxed manner, and placed two fingers on his thigh, towards the middle of it, which is where they better appreciate your heart rate. Stay well and has all the keystrokes that you feel in 15 seconds. Do it several times to be sure, and when you do, multiply by four to determine total keystrokes per minute. If your pet is less than 13 pounds, the result should be between 100 and 160 beats per minute; If you weigh more, between 60 and 100. What you get out of those limits involve problems, what if what you perceive, you shall go to a vet as soon as possible.
Size matters
The heart of a chihuahua than a Mastiff is not the same. Therefore, large and small dogs suffer from heart well differently.In the case of small breeds, they tend to be of the heart valves that fail, due to the bacteria that commonly infect their mouths but end up causing, or said, valvular insufficiency.
For their part, the big races see how the heart does not have enough force to bombard all the blood that their bodies need, since the organ in question is growing too, avoiding that the valves touch (dilated cardiomyopathy).
Tracks to know that something is wrong
The most obvious track to know that your pet could suffer heart is fatigue. We just say that if the heart fails, the blood not water; and if this not watering, the body does not receive all the nutrients and oxygen necessary to properly operate their organs and muscles. An excess of fatigue in their games, exercises or routine (causing them to swoon) rides is the clearest symptom that something wrong with his heart: If you try to breathe in anxious manner, with too-rapid breaths, is trying to capture the oxygen it needs and does not receive blood-borne.The cough is also an important ally for you, since it continues to be a symptom of impaired breathing.
Taking the pulse of a dog
So far we have seen that a medical condition of the vital organ is a malfunction of the process of blood pumping. That translates into exhaustion, since the heart tries to compensate for these shortcomings to beat much faster than normal (hence, sometimes end up freezing at all).Out of doubt, nothing like take the pulse of your pet; It is the best way to detect early heart failure: get it tipping side, in a relaxed manner, and placed two fingers on his thigh, towards the middle of it, which is where they better appreciate your heart rate. Stay well and has all the keystrokes that you feel in 15 seconds. Do it several times to be sure, and when you do, multiply by four to determine total keystrokes per minute. If your pet is less than 13 pounds, the result should be between 100 and 160 beats per minute; If you weigh more, between 60 and 100. What you get out of those limits involve problems, what if what you perceive, you shall go to a vet as soon as possible.