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We're always fascinated with the inner workings of a Dachshund, and have featured x-rays of Joey and our dear departed Maggie several times over the years. We recently went to the vet to have a look at Joey's heart. With all the medical conditions that he has, he also has had a heart murmur his entire life, and it has progressed to about a grade 3. Heart murmurs are common in small dogs such as Dachshunds, and they worsen as the dogs get older, eventually leading to CHF, or congestive heart failure. If Joey were to start showing signs of exercise intolerance or "coughing," it will be time to start him on some cardiac meds. Thankfully, he's not showing any of these symptoms yet, but with the long-standing condition, it was prudent to have a look inside.
We were happy to find that things look pretty good. You can see his heart in the above photo, center left, and it does not appear to be enlarged. That's his lungs to the right of the heart, and there doesn't appear to be any fluid buildup, so that's positive as well.
Our wonderful veterinarian and hero, Dr. Cohen at Wicker Park Veterinary Clinic, had a good laugh when he noticed all of Joey's "hardware." If you look in the upper right, you can see all the surgical staples inside him from his previous bi-lateral adrenalectomy and spleenectomy, and it took a minute to realize what all the foreign bodies were! Hopefully Joey won't have to go through any metal detectors any time soon. You can see another staple in the belly-view photo below near one of his ribs.
The Heart of The Long and Short of it All
7 comments:
Thanks so much for this post and for the x-ray pics! Our little dachshund, Wishy, was just diagnosed with an enlarged heart and it was a very scary thing to hear! She is only 4.5 so she is a bit young but hearing that Joey has done so well for so many years gives us great hope! We enjoy your blog tremendously. You make us laugh, cry and most importantly you educate us about the lovely world of dachshunds. Thank you!
Dawn and Wishy
Like the Timex watches of the 50s and 60s, Joey has shown that he can "take a licking and keep on ticking." Here's to him. (And his dad, who foots the bills.)
Lookin' good Joey!
Dachshunds even have cute X-Rays!
Thanks so much for posting these and for all your great educational posts about doxies. Mom appreciates seeing inside, and I do, too.
My doxie Lady is 8 yrs old and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the beginning of August. Its been very hard for us but we are making her as comfortable as possible. She us taking meds for her condition and eating prescribed food. We are hoping and praying for the best.
What type of food were you prescribed?
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