My scottie who is 11 next month is really poorly, she is has congestive heart failure and an enlarged liver. All discovered yesterday and seems exacerbated by a respiratory infection.
We had no idea she had this, only a heart murmur for many years. She is supersonic at squirrel chasing and loves being out.
Saturday she went down with coughing which was just like kennel cough that one of my boys had over two weeks ago, but very quickly her breathing got very rapid. Vets gave antibiotics.

Sunday slightly better but breathing rapid.

Monday no worse but no better, just the same. Not eaten for 48hrs but drinking a fair amount.
I went out for 45 mins and when I came back she was poorly again but with green discharge from nose and breathing very laboured.

Vets all day yesterday, heart is filling most of thoracic cavity and liver is big too(probably due to heart). No pericardial effusion so that good. Brought her home.

This morning she is slightly improved but breathing at a rate of 80 breaths per min, it had been up to 100!
She's on cardisure, frusemide(diuretic) antibiotics and her normal propalin which she has had for years after her spay.

What I need to know is how long before these tabs make her feel better?
Will she get better? Vet told me to give TLC and spoil her, which has concerned me.
How can I get her to eat? She's lost lots of weight. Used to be 12.5kg and now down to 9.3kg
And how did we not have any signs of heart problems before this?? Vet said her heart would have been enlarged for a while.
Never off her food, never coughed, ran like a young dog. Did have some weight loss but I had cut food back a little as thought she was getting plump.

Long post apologies, just so worried .

My last dog had an enlarged heart diagnosed when she was about 11 or 12. She had an episode of collapse when we were out walking when it suddenly turned very warm and she had also started to cough occasionally when we were out. The vet suspected Larangeal paralysis, but although there was a slight problem, not enough to have caused any collapses he thought. So he xrayed her chest and found most of it contained her heart. She was given Frusimide intially and then some drugs for the heart who's names escape me at the moment. The meds worked remarkably well and she started to perk up. Her appetite never left her and she began to run more and more, even though I was nervous in letting her, but I reasoned I would rather let her enjoy herself and perhaps die whilst she was chasing a rabbit, then mollycoddle her and make her miserable. The vet also said not to fuss over her and let her go at her pace.
The drugs seemed to gradually improve her heart function so that she stopped coughing, was more lively and generally great for her age. She lived until 14.5 years. In the last six months her kidneys began to fail and more drugs were added to the mix. When we took her to the vets for the last time he confessed that he was amazed how long she survived as he thought she had only six months from diagnosis.
One thing we found helpful was to keep her cool when we were out, so I got her a cool coat which was brilliant or took her for walks that involved a river or a lake to immerse herself in from time to time.

It varies so much from dog to dog, some get better, some don't -but don't give up just yet. Once the respiratory infection has cleared, that alone should help a lot. In my experience it can take a few weeks for heart medication to have a real effect, and the dosage may well need adjusting once or twice as well.

I have had two heart dogs, different breeds and different conditions. First there was Jesper, Golden Retriever, who had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. He showed no signs at all until the day he suddenly collapsed during a walk when he was 8 years old. Like with your dog, he was x-rayed and found to have an enlarged heart. It definitely took weeks and several adjustments of medication with him, but he did get a LOT better. He lived for a further 3 years.

Then there was Rufus, who ironically I bought when Jesper died. He was a Cavalier. As a Cavalier I made sure he had his heart checked every year when he had his annual booster -it is so very common for them to develop heart murmurs after the age of 5. When he was 7, he had no murmur at all. When he was 8, suddenly he had a grade 6 murmur -the worst one possible. That was Mitral Valve Disease. The vet said he would not make it to Christmas that year, which was 3 or 4 months away then.  Again he was put onto medication. Rufus then lived a further SEVEN YEARS and died when he was 15 years and 2 months old. He was poorly on and off for the last couple of years, but always happy. We just let him decide what he wanted to do or not. If he wanted to go for a walk, he could, but if he stayed in his bed when the other dogs were going out, we knew he'd rather stay at home and rest. It was his choice all the time, we never forced anything.

Many thanks, I'm probably expecting too much too soon & the fact I found the heart pill from thus morning on the floor which I thought she had swallowed but must have been caught in her lips! Re given now, but she has jaws that lock like a crocodile.

I gave her some honey to try and give her some sugar and a bit of energy. She's so tired looking

Total misdiagnosis from vet, at specialist vets who looked at X-ray and said it lungs not heart!!
after further scan she has bronchial pneumonia and is in a really poorly way and on oxygen which my vet said on monday she didn't need and she as bad then as she is now.
I rang my vet yesterday to say she wasn't any better and had green discharge from nose again, crackly breathing, but he didn't want to see her and didn't even speak with me just told the nurse to tell me they would refer to cardiac specialist at southern counties. appointment was this morning at 9am.

I so should have stuck with my gut instinct which i kept trying to the vet who seemed to disregard that it was anything to do with kennel cough and my initial thinking of it being an infection and possibly pneumonia.

Blimey, time to change vets I think! This sounds like much better news though, presumably it can be treated successfully?

Just another thing not see him again.

Yes being treated but extremely sick as lungs so comprised with infection, all paws crossed that has enough strength. She'll be with them for about 48hours.

Sending healing thoughts to your dear girl and ((hugs)) to you, awful that the vet got it so wrong. Fingers crossed for you.
Mel x

thank you
Just spoke to the specialist and she is on oxygen, nebulisers, IV fluids, IV antibiotics - two different sorts. waiting game now over next 24 - 48hrs.

she is a tough little girl and very strong and usually fit so hopefully this will bode well for her but its so worrying.