What is chf in dogs

While many conditions can lead to congestive heart failure in dogs, one of the most common causes is dilated cardiomyopathy. In this condition, the chambers of the heart become enlarged, which weakens the muscle walls so that they are unable to pump adequate amounts of blood to the body. As a result, fluid may back up into the lungs, making breathing difficult, or into the abdomen, giving the dog a pot-bellied appearance. In the early stages of congestive heart failure, your dog may show no signs at all.

As the disease progresses, signs may include:. To determine the cause of congestive heart failure, your veterinarian may recommend a number of tests, such as:. In some cases, such as congestive heart failure that is caused by heartworm disease, treatment of the underlying condition may resolve some or all of the heart problems. If the problem is caused by a congenital condition a heart defect that the dog has had since birth , surgical repair may be an option.

Dogs with severe congestive heart failure may require initial hospitalization and oxygen therapy. If there is fluid in the abdomen, it may need to be removed to make your pet more comfortable.

Your veterinarian will discuss each medication and its potential side effects with you. There are many causes of congestive heart failure CHF in dogs. CHF can be brought on by high blood pressure, congenital heart defects, heartworm disease, or a variety of other disorders. A dog with congestive heart failure may cough, have trouble breathing, experience fatigue, loss of appetite, or might die suddenly. Depending on the underlying cause, treatment can help reverse congestive heart failure, and medications are available to help relieve its symptoms.

It can be caused by a failure of the left side, right side, or both sides of the heart. When the heart starts to fail in its ability to pump enough blood, the body can usually compensate to ensure that tissues receive the blood and oxygen they need. As the disease increases in severity, these compensatory mechanisms become overwhelmed.

The heart is then unable to pump enough blood to the body, so fluid backs up, most often into the lungs, causing congestion —— hence the term congestive heart failure.

Though many conditions can lead to congestive heart failure in dogs, one of the more common causes is chronic valve disease. Pimobendan increases the strength of contraction of the heart and has been shown to prolong survival of dogs with congestive heart failure. These drugs might control difficulty breathing and other signs of heart failure for several months, but eventually the heart disease progresses and adjustments to the medications are required.

These adjustments might include higher doses of the drugs that have been already prescribed, or they might include the addition of extra medications. Learn more about medications used to treat heart disease here. If your pet has had fluid build-up in their belly in the past, you can monitor for recurrence by checking the size of their waist with a floppy tape measure or by monitoring their body weight. Increasing trends may indicate that a recheck to remove the fluid, or a change in medication, is needed.