My senior mini doxie has an enlarged heart. Is it time to say goodbye?

I'm so sorry to hear that you and Sammi are struggling with end of life decisions. This is one of the most difficult and agonizing decisions that we make as pet owners. Anytime difficulty breathing is involved, suffering is occurring. Given her heart disease, it seems most likely that the breathing difficulty and coughing are a result of heart disease or congestive heart failure. Without examining her and seeing her chest x-rays, I can't accurately speak as to her current situation and if a change in medication may be beneficial to improve her quality of life and breathing issues for the time being. Finding blood around her stool is another concerning sign, and could be related to issues with her colon or anal glands. Given Sammi's difficulty breathing at this point, it sounds as though your best two options are either a) further evaluation by her vet urgently to determine if medications can be adjusted to improve her quality of life, or b) euthanasia to ease her pain and suffering. On a personal note, I understand the difficulty of this decision as I recently went through it with one of my own older dogs. Making the decision was difficult, but in the end, I felt a sense of relief knowing that he was at peace and no longer suffering. I hope this helps you and that all goes as well as possible for Sammi.

I'm sorry Brownie isn't doing well! It sounds like he has heart disease, which can be common in senior dogs. Unfortunately there is no cure for heart disease, but the symptoms can be managed with medication. The echocardiogram (ultrasound of his heart) will give more information on how his heart is pumping blood and how serious his heart disease is so that a prognosis can be given. This doesn't necessarily mean he will die soon, but it's unfortunately a possibility given his age. Hopefully the heart disease isn't significantly progressed and medication can help him, and the echocardiogram will provide more information. I hope this helps.

This is always a tough question to answer. I work for a home euthanasia service, so I face this question all the time with clients. I recommend making a list of five things Coco used to love to do, and if she is no longer doing at least two of them, her quality of life has declined to where euthanasia should be considered. Quality of life is very important in these cases. I would speak with her vet to see what they think about her quality of life. I hope this helps.

This is such a difficult decision to make, and unfortunately without knowing all of the details of Coco’s case and being able to examine her in person it’s hard to know if it might be time to consider euthanasia. If your vet feels it’s likely that the symptoms are not related to something potentially treatable like an infection, nasal foreign body or tooth root abscess then it may not be worth the anesthetic risk to try to get more information by scoping. It sounds like she is having trouble breathing, and if her ability to rest comfortably and perform normal daily activities is inhibited by this then it may be time to consider euthanasia. I also think this is something you should discuss with your vet - they know you and Coco best and might be able to provide further guidance.

There are many medications which can be used to support a failing heart and should be used alongside diuretics in order to help support the function of the heart, reduce fluid build up in the lungs and abdomen and control blood pressure if required. Unfortunately, no cure is available and medications should be adjusted as Zoe's condition changes; many dogs can live for months-years with a heart condition depending on the severity of other health complications which can also occur as they age. Without a full history of all her complaints and recent tests it is impossible to assess her medium-long term prognosis

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Coughing and bringing up clear liquid could be coughing up stuff instead of vomiting. This is important to try to differentiate. Coughing up liquid is more consistent with heart disease. The x-rays are difficult to read as the image transfer through is of poor quality and to really assess the lungs you need good quality images, however the heart does look a bit enlarged and the lungs do look a bit 'white'. I cannot assess the liver on these radiographs as you cannot see them. An enlarged heart, white lungs (fluid in the lungs), and an enlarged liver is consistent with both right and left sided heart disease. I recommend you return either to your vet, or another vet, and get a specialist ultrasound of the heart (an 'echo') to determine if heart medications are required. Your vet can also listen to the heart to see if a murmur is present in the heart, or 'crackles' are heard on the lungs. Heart disease is very serious and needs medications to manage. Without these Lily unfortunately will essentially drown in her own lungs, if heart disease is the problem. I suggest a recheck as soon as possible to get this figured out. Best of luck with Lily, I hope she feels better soon.

The heart does indeed appear to be enlarged and the trachea (windpipe) pushed up by the heart which can cause discomfort and coughing. Murmurs and valve disease are quite common in chihuahuas (diet related dilated cardiomyopathy is generally associated with a milder murmur and larger heart). An ultrasound exam to assess the valves and the strength and thickness of the heart muscle or review from a cardiologist is recommended in order to determine the underlying issues as treatment to manage and reduce the symptoms are very different depending on the type of heart condition which is predominant