Soli is continuing to defy the odds :-D

We all expected her to be in heart failure in late october/november.  She wasn't.  Had she been, she more than likely wouldn't be here now (average life expectancy of a dobermann in heart failure from dilated cardiomyopathy is 6 weeks).

First, her last echo scan in February showed that her heart had not deteriorated - at all - since october :-D

Now, I've just been emailed the results of her holter test - a 24-hour ECG monitor - from last week.

In august - last time she had one done - she had over 9000 abnormal beats (couplets of these are not that uncommon but runs of these can cause fainting and in extremes, sudden death syndrome which is what killed her litter brother Gunnar - these are what we were looking for).

This time she had...

443  :-D :-D :-D

Only a handful of couplets and never more than that at once.

So at the moment, Soli is everything she shouldn't be - alive :-P :-D, healthy, still showing no symptoms whatsoever and actually better than before!

The only bit that Jo flagged up was a brief patch of tachycardia - Soli's heart rate shot up to around 290 bpm.  That was when - as I'd thought might be happening - we'd come across a group of dogs, one had frightened her (by being itself, a small, lively dog, even though it ignored her) and she'd half-heartedly charged at it.  So as usual I need to keep working on the dogs thing.

But - it did not cause abnormal beats!  At her echo, whenever she got extra-stressed, she would get abnormals every other beat so this is brilliant :-D

Well done Soli!!! Keep it up. It's great to hear good news regarding this awful condition and glad she's defying all the odds.

reading this makes me wish we had a like button...

That's lovely news. :) :)

Thats fab news. How old is Soli?
My first Dobe died of DCM - she was just 11.

Have you had your Dobe girls spayed?
I have had three bitches - all spayed - all developed urinary incontinence - all on propalin.  Vet says its rare - not in my experience!!

She is 9, she'll be 10 in July :-)

Both girls are spayed - well, all my girls are spayed (7 of my 8 are girls).

Paige has not long been done - she's 7 in a couple of days, so I'm not worried about her developing incontinence as it's more common in younger girls from what I've read (Soli was spayed at something like 18 months-2yrs old).

Tis more common than your vet thinks though, and dobes are more prone than a lot of breeds.

With Paige I'm more worried about the DCM - she was scanned the same time as Soli was diagnosed, and back then she was equivocal (showing signs that the disease could develop), Soli's cardiologist told me in Feb that the chances are minute that she won't develop it.

But on the upside, I know that well ahead of time so she'll be scanned when Soli has her next echo in September, and if need be put on vetmedin.  Her heart looks just like Soli's did in 08 so more than likely she'll just be starting with DCM in sept, or very close to it.

Oh dear - poor you and the girls. Its very distressing. Your vet bills must be astronomical. Can you ask any vet for the scan? Does it cost a fortune?
My girls haven't had a scan. They have regular check ups but that is all .

I was lucky with the initial scan that it was free as all my dobes were eligible for the Protect study scanning at the time (it's finishing soon so not any more), so I got all 3 done (Remy's heart is perfect thankfully).

Vet bills - well, insurance is a godsend!!  SOli's routine bills on the Protect study are covered by the company behind it anyhoo and will be once it's finished, but anything outside the routine (such as this latest holter) has to be paid for but it's all covered.

Paige will be covered also but only just by about a week (I'd only had her 3 weeks when she was scanned).

Cost-wise it does vary - because Soli has to go to Liverpool university for anything the bills would be quite high as it's a referral hospital, Paige I could take anywhere in theory (but will likely keep going there as Soli's cardio specialises in DCM).  A friend of mine has a lab with DCM though and apparently his next echo/ECG is going to cost her about £350, and monthly pills from the vet are costing her around £70-80.  And he's not insured.  Not all vets can do it, the only way to get a proper idea of what's going on is to have an echo done, which is a specialised thing.  The holter I had to hire and I don't think anyone at my vets had done one before, they were getting tips from me!  That cost me £300, a fair bit of that was the hiring I think and of course my own vets' fees for sorting it all out.

I'm very strict about getting mine checked out properly - Soli's litter brother dropped dead of DCM at 6yrs old after no symptoms (which is what prompted me to brush up my knowledge on it and is how I found out about the study) so I like to know what's going on.  It can develop so quickly :-( But if it's caught early can be slowed right down - which is what seems to be happening with Soli.  Any dobes I have are going to be scanned annually.