My dog with heart failure is coughing. Should I increase Furosemide?

Hi there, you could try increasing it to 30 mg twice a day. In general a standard dose is 2mg/kg twice a day. If frusemide should not work , a new diuretic could be added such as spironolactone. I would recommend to discuss this with your vet. Hope this helps !

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Troy. Poor boy! Do not give him extra enalapril. It sounds like he may need more furosemide. Dogs with heart disease have fluid build up in their lungs because the heart doesn't pump correctly causing the coughing. Furosemide is a diuretic, which means it gets rid of excess fluid helping stop the cough. Take him back into the vet to get more furosemide. I hope this helps!

Yes Lasix can help dogs with CHF but the dosage can only be determined by the prescribing vet. Legally we cannot prescribe it, and its usage has to be monitored by a vet as it can have some serious side effects like dehydration, weakness, collapse, balance problems, electrolyte imbalance, lack of urine production, and a racing heart beat. There are other medications that can be used to control the symptoms of CHF, they won't cure it, but they will make her more comfortable. I'd talk to Lucy's vet about Lasix and other medication. I hope this helps.

Oh no! This sounds very serious and the Lasix alone probably isn't enough to control her symptoms. If she is this sick you should definitely take Roxy back in to the vet to perhaps up her dose of Lasix (there is often a wide range that you can give pets until symptoms resolve) or give her actual heart medication. If the heart is not addressed directly (with medications), then no matter how much Lasix you give, the lungs will continue to fill with fluid due to the direct relationship that is shared between the heart and lungs. This website link discusses the use of both Lasix and heart medications (Enalapril) together in pets with signs of congestive heart failure, which is likely Roxy's condition. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=537

Poor guy. The coughing is mainly due to fluid bulid up in the lungs. If the coughing has not improved then ask you vet if adjustments can be made to his current medications, in particulra the Libeo (Furosemide), which is designed to pull fluid off the lungs, reducing the cough. He is on all the medications currently recommended for heart failure dogs, so the best thing to do is increase his medications and perhaps get him on a cardiac prescription diet (i.e. Hill's Science Diet H/D). Also understand that heart medication is not curing the disease, it is merely managing it to buy your pet more time. Unfortuantely the medication may reach a point where it is no longer effective when the disease has progressed too far. I do hope that we have not reached that point yet, and perhaps can still make adjustments in Kenzo's medications to help manage his heart disease for a while longer. Here is more information on heart disease --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8501760 Best of luck moving forward with Kenzo and managing his heart disease. Take care.

Poor Tata. The furosemide medication that she is on right now is supposed to help clear fluid out of her lungs. If she is still having issues breathing then I would ask your vet if she can safely up her dosage. There is a wide safety range for this medication so chances are she can up. Just remember that heart failure symptoms will never completely resolve with medication. Your goal is to make Tata as comfortable as possible. Best of luck with your pet.

These are all great questions. I’m sorry you are having to navigate through this with Memi but he is lucky to have an owner as dedicated as you are! An increased respiratory rate and/or effort can be indicative of fluid build up in the lungs from heart failure. Sometimes this fluid can be heard on exam with a stethoscope and sometimes it can only be seen on X-rays. In my experience, the severity of the fluid build up correlates with the physical exam findings. Occasionally I may see fluid in an X-ray that I cannot hear on exam so I always recommend doing X-rays if I am suspicious of heart failure. The rate at which fluid builds up in th lungs can vary from dog to dog and case to case. There is no way to anticipate how quickly fluid will accumulate in Memi until it begins to happen. A diuretic like lasix can very effectively remove this fluid but, like with all drugs, has to be used with caution and the patient has to be monitored closely while on it. If Memi is still having difficulty breathing I would recommend requesting a recheck appointment with either your regular veterinarian or your cardiologist. I hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.