Download What is valve disease? Valvular heart disease is a condition where

What is valve disease?
Valvular heart disease is a condition where the valves of the heart degenerate over time, becoming
thickened and irregular, or thin and dysfunctional. The most commonly affected valves are the Mitral
and Tricuspid valves, between the Atria and Ventricles.
This means that the valves are no longer able to close properly and they are unable to prevent blood
from flowing back in the wrong direction. The heart then has to work harder to pump the additional
volumes of blood. The valves continue to degenerate further over time, although there is no specific
time limit in which the disease will progress and each dog is different.
Some will never show any signs of their disease, whereas others will eventually go into heart failure as the
leaks get worse and the heart muscle becomes larger and is unable to cope.
Are certain dogs more at risk than others?
Small breed dogs are more at risk of developing valve disease than
larger breeds.
Certain breeds are more commonly affected; Cavalier King Charles
Spaniels in particular are very at risk of valve disease and tend to develop it
earlier with a faster progression of the disease.
How is valve disease diagnosed?
Often the first sign of valve disease is a heart murmur, which is the sound of the blood leaking back the
wrong way through the valves. Valve disease is only one cause of a murmur though, and so the only
way to make a definitive diagnosis is with a heart scan. During a scan, a Cardiologist can look at all of
the heart valves to see if they are leaking, and if so, how badly. They can also measure the chambers of
the heart and asses how the heart is pumping.
My dog has valve disease, now what?
Each dog will be affected differently as the disease will progress at different rates. Unfortunately there
are no drugs that will slow the progression of the disease, but many dogs will have a gradual worsening of
their disease which has no effect on their quality of life. For those that do degenerate faster and go into
heart failure, there are drugs which can be used to alleviate the symptoms and with these and regular
check-ups many dogs are able to live a comfortable life for months or years.
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