| Ask The Vet -
Q&A |
Question
I have a 9 year old golden reteiver. He started to be sick
on Monday. I took him to the vets and they put him on a drip and
gave him antibiotics. He was at the vets for 3 days. He stopped
being sick but was still very ill. They did blood test but every
thing came back OK. They have told us he has an enlarged heart but
they have not done an x-ray or any scans. They have sent him home
with heart tablets. I am concerned that this is the wrong diagnosis
because he does not have any of the symptoms for an enlarged heart.
He had a temperature, was vomiting, drinking a lot and had low blood
pressure.
Gillian Jones - County Durham, UK |
Answering questions:
Susie Samuel MA VetMB MRCVS from
Vet
Help Direct |
| Answer |
Hi
Gillian,
I
am sorry to hear that your golden retriever has been ill. It is
possible to tell that a dog’s heart is enlarged just by listening
to it. However, as you suggest, taking an x-ray and doing a scan
can be helpful to confirm this in more detail.
Some
types of heart tablets are very beneficial to dogs with heart problems
and increase life expectancy considerably with few adverse effects.
In some dogs a general anaesthetic or sedation is necessary to perform
an x-ray or scan. Your vet may have judged it better that your dog
benefit from the tablets immediately rather than waiting until he
was healthy enough to withstand these procedures.
I
suggest you ask to see your vet again to discuss this further. You
could ask your vet why an x-ray and scan were not performed. If
you prefer, you could seek a second opinion from another veterinary
surgeon or from a different practice. Your vet should be happy to
give your dog’s notes to another vet for the appointment.
Kind regards,
Susie Samuel MA VetMB MRCVS www.vethelpdirect.com
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