Rottweiler with CHF panting: Are his heart meds causing side effects?

I am worried that the increased heart rate may be more due to his heart failure and more fluids around his lungs or in his abdomen. I would talk to your vet about his meds. They may want to increase the dosage of all the meds to help him compensate. They may also add meds like a diuretic to help get some of the fluids off the chest. I am so sorry you are having to go through this. Right sided heart failure is usually caused by heartworms most commonly. Heartworms may not be very common in your area but it may be worth checking. If they haven't already, I would ask them to check for heartworms. I hope this helps!

Poor Tiny! Based on the signs you are describing (panting, coughing, and acting "off" recently), I would definitely be concerned that his heart disease may be getting worse, which may require changes in his medication doses. By law, the experts at Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach are not allowed to give any recommendations regarding dosages for any medication, since this requires a physical exam and a VCPR (veterinarian-client-patient relationship). I would suggest talking to the vet who is currently treating Tiny's CHF and who originally prescribed the medications to see what he/she would recommend - it would be best to do this today, or take Tiny back to the vet for an exam this afternoon, since worsening CHF can be life-threatening without prompt treatment.

He is seeking an environment in which he can breathe better. Heart failure patients may have fluid in their lungs and that makes it difficult to breathe. He may need a diuretic or if he is already on one, the dose may need adjusted. If possible, keep a fan going in the house near him, keep the house cool. I would recommend an X-ray to see if he has fluid to help adjust his medications. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am so sorry to hear about Bizou! Unfortunately, if he is in congestive heart failure, the only treatment is the lasix pill (furosemide). Depending on how severe his condition is, he may not survive without hospitalization with oxygen and injectible lasix. Your vet may have a strong suspicion of this if Bizou has a heart murmur and many crackles in the lungs (we can hear with the stethoscope). However, even that is not enough to definitively diagnose it. I have seen a couple dogs I was sure were in heart failure and when I took the x-rays, it turned out to be pneumonia or cancer. If you can at all afford it, go for the xrays so you at least know what you are dealing with - if it's cancer instead of heart failure, that may change your approach. If it is heart failure, it will give a clue as to how serious. If you can't afford the x-rays, treat for whatever the vet thinks is most likely. If heart failure is it, the most commonly prescribed medications are furosemide, enalapril, and pimobendan (though there are others). Finally, if he is still struggling for air, his tongue/gums are any color other than bright pink, or the vet thinks it is serious enough to require oxygen, and you cannot pay for treatment, I would strongly consider euthanasia. Dying by gasping and struggling for air while drowning in your own fluids is a horrible way to go - I've seen it several times. Please feel free to reach out to me via consultation if you'd like to to have a more detailed conversation with you. Best wishes to you and Bizou.

The elevated respiration and fainting may indicate that the meds are not controlling the heart failure well at this time. The movement you are seeing with the heartbeat may be related to the murmur getting more intense, or possibly due to an arrhythmia. Without evaluating the medical history and examining Heidi it's difficult to tell. I recommend having her evaluated by your vet sometime soon. Your vet should be able to help explain what's going on and may want to prescribe additional treatment. Heart failure is often a progressive disease, so it's expected that medications will change as the disease progresses. If Heidi is otherwise seeming happy, then I don't think you are being selfish by continuing treatment. I think it's worth consulting with your vet and seeing if anymore can be done to keep her from breathing hard and fainting. I hope that helps and Heidi gets better soon.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Roxy! If Roxy is having trouble breathing she needs to see a veterinarian right away. We have to assume she is in congestive heart failure. Just increasing the medication likely will not be enough. You can give her another 1/2 of furosemide while you find an open emergency room. Oral medications are not quick enough in situations like this. She likely needs oxygen and injectable medications. I wish Roxy the best!

I certainly agree with your veterinarian that the symptoms you are mentioning do sound consistent with heart failure. If your veterinarian has not yet taken an x-ray of her chest, that would be the next thing I would recommend doing. It will confirm if there is fluid in her lungs. There are a number of medications that can be used for heart failure. A diuretic is only one of them and diuretic doses do have to be adjusted to each patient. I am attaching a handout below with more information on heart failure and medications for you. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1968 Another option would be to have a consultation with a cardiologist who can do an ultrasound of Roxie's heart (an echocardiogram) and will be able to help decide on the best medications for her based on that information. You can find a cardiologist near you here. http://find.vetspecialists.com Good luck! I hope that was helfpul. Thanks for using PetCoach.