Heart attack is among the five most common ailments among people. But our four-legged friends aren’t from him either insured, and each year the number of animals with this pathology is steadily increasing. And although the disease that occurs in dogs, less studied than human disease, are still specialists managed to find out the mechanisms of its development and propose a suitable diagnosis and therapy. If the pet is prone to developing this disease, the owner should know how a heart attack manifests itself in dogs, and what to do in this case.
Content
- 1. Causes of a heart attack in dogs
- 2. Symptoms of the disease
- 3. Diagnostics
- 4. Treatment and first aid
- 5. Risk group
Causes of a Heart Attack in Dogs
Contents
Before a critical situation arises, in the body of the animal quite a long time pathological changes. Atherosclerotic bad cholesterol plaques. They are attached to vascular walls, overlap each other, narrowing the lumen that leads to circulatory disorders. 
Pathology progresses, plaque size increases to such sizes that any, even small, impact can become cause rupture of the walls of the vessel. On the damaged area occurs blood coagulation, a blood clot forms, clogging the lumen of the vessel. Blood cannot move normally, which causes a heart attack state.
Among the main causes of heart attack in dogs, specialists note the following:
- hormonal changes in certain age periods;
- violation of metabolic processes;
- inflammation developing in the vessels of the circulatory system;
- helminthic invasion, in which parasites migrate to the blood blood vessels;
- excessive physical activity;
- inactivity – dogs that move a little, often suffer from heart disease, especially breeds, needing regular intensive work;
- frequent stressful situations;
- infection with heartworms, carriers of which larvae are mosquitoes – when bitten, the parasite enters the bloodstream and settles in the pulmonary artery; in the process of life, worms harm vessels, disrupt the outflow of blood.
Regardless of what triggered the development of a heart attack, the disease has a number of symptoms.
Symptoms of the disease
Despite the fact that dogs are increasingly suffering from heart attacks, this pathology can not be attributed to common diseases. it somewhat complicates the diagnosis at the initial stage.
Veterinarians recommend that owners pay attention to the following manifestations of the disease in pets:
- The mucous membranes turn blue – a similar phenomenon is called cyanosis, arising against a background of sharp oxygen deficiency in the blood. Blue can affect the gums, the sky, the whites of the eyes.
- Breathing is disturbed, becomes rapid, heavy, arises dyspnea.
- The pet becomes inactive – most of the time lies on its side, rarely gets up, only if necessary. In every possible way avoids physical activity, refuses games and does not show joy, when his name is for a walk. Even a short walk becomes cause severe fatigue.
- Violation affects musculoskeletal system – dog moves uncertainly, staggering.
- Motion coordination is lost.
- Possible loss of consciousness – occurs if it decreases sharply blood pressure to critical levels.
- The patient may experience severe pain in the area elbow of the left paw – because of this, the dog can be aggressive, whine, squeal, behave uneasily.
- Pet’s sleep becomes anxious, he often wakes up, startling.
Unfortunately, quite often a fatal outcome is the only sign of a heart attack in an animal. Favorite is dying suddenly, and the owner is not able to provide any help. The disease is quite insidious, so you should carefully observe for a pet and for any alarming signs seek medical attention help.
The condition is further complicated by the fact that it does not have distinct signs inherent exclusively to a heart attack. For example, initial symptoms resemble pulmonary development insufficiency. And the appearance of shortness of breath, cyanosis of mucous tissues is often perceived as signs of bronchial asthma and other diseases of the respiratory system.
Many heart diseases are accompanied by fainting, shaky gait, a sharp increase in blood pressure, therefore in in some cases it’s far from always possible to find out what the dog it is a heart attack, and not manifestations of heart disease, cardiomyopathy, or another heart disease.
Experts confirm that the owner of the pet cannot to independently diagnose a heart attack, since the clinical picture is pretty blurry.
Diagnostics
Only a specialist can diagnose a heart attack in an animal, with experience and knowledge from the field of cardiology. Preferably contact a veterinary clinic where doctors take a narrow specializations – cardiologists dealing with heart ailments the muscles. 
Upon receipt of a pet in a veterinary clinic, a comprehensive examination, which includes the following laboratory and instrumental diagnostic techniques:
- blood and urine sampling for general analysis;
- electrocardiography;
- echocardiography;
- pressure change control;
- chest x-ray;
- ultrasound procedure.
The most informative method of examining the heart of veterinarians consider angiography. However, the procedure is performed under general anesthesia, which with problems in the cardiovascular area is extremely dangerous.
With a heart attack, differential diagnosis is required, allowing distinguish the disease from other heart pathologies that have a similar clinical picture.
Treatment and first aid
First of all, the owner should know what to do if primary symptoms of a heart attack occur. Especially this applies to animals with heart disease or elderly dogs.
First of all, it is recommended to give the dog Cardamine – 3 drops or Corvalolum – 10-15 drops, funds are poured into the mouth. Dosage calculated based on the patient’s body weight. If the pet if breathing is difficult, you can let him smell cotton wool with a few drops of aromatic oil or salt.
This is the only thing a man can do for his pet independently, all other actions can only worsen it state. Therefore, it is recommended to deliver as quickly as possible. animal in the office of a veterinarian. Best if patient leave in stationary conditions, which will provide a more complete heart attack treatment.
Therapeutic effects include medication means:
- antianginal drugs, for example, Nitroglycerin – data drugs increase the absorption of oxygen by heart cells;
- means supporting the activity of the heart muscle – Adrenaline, Caffeine, etc .;
- drugs with antithrombotic action – Heparin sodium, heparin, fraxiparin, etc.
Additionally, the doctor prescribes vitamin and mineral complexes, supporting the body of a sick animal. Unfortunately, with an extensive heart attack, the pet’s heart cannot be cured. But if the therapy is started on time, the animal has a chance to transfer ailment and return to normal life.
Also, treatment includes mandatory nutritional correction. Diet consists of a number of restrictions and the addition of some products:
- all foods containing large amounts of food should be removed from the dog’s diet amount of fat;
- useful are lactic acid products;
- you should select a feed containing all the necessary elements, with natural feeding, the veterinarian should recommend additional additives;
- the menu of the animal should not be sweet and baked food.
A pet who has had a heart attack needs special care. To the owner to review the existing regime and pay more to your pet attention:
- If a heart attack occurs in a working dog involved in hunting or sporting events, it is important to significantly reduce her physical activity.
- When it comes to an animal involved in breeding, the first time it is desirable to exclude the probability of mating, and later to reduce the dog only with excellent health.
- In this case, the pet requires periodic consultation veterinarian and preventive examinations.
- Experts advise counting the amount from time to time. heartbeats per minute, do this by touching the dog’s chest. Data should preferably be recorded in a special diary, indicating date, time and received data.
Normal rate of contractions of the heart muscle in representatives large breeds is 70-100 beats per minute, in small dogs size – 100-130.
Risk group
Like humans, dogs are likely to predispositions to cardiovascular ailments, and statistics are confirms. More often than others, a heart attack is diagnosed in the following animal groups:
- Representatives of large breeds. Newfoundlands, St. Bernards, Caucasian shepherds and other large animals suffer from necrosis of the heart muscle due to the fact that they are incorrectly selected physical activity. Excessive activity negatively affects the work of the heart.
- Representatives of decorative breeds. These crumbs have frequent development heart disease is associated with excessive emotionality. They are sharper than other dogs are experiencing stress, in some individuals mental disorder may occur even due to too sharp sound. During a fright, the dog’s heart pounds harder, which leads over time to its rapid wear.
Of course, heart attacks often occur in older animals, naturally, this is due to the worst state of blood vessels, heart and organism as a whole. 
Owners and breeders of dogs say that these animals have a heart filled with love. They live next to a person, adapt to his rhythm and are able to give his life for him without hesitation. It is not surprising that the disease in such a heart develops practically human – serious, insidious, requiring mandatory treatment.
