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Congestive Heart Failure in Dog"Congestive Heart Failure in Dog refers to any weakening of the heart muscle and its ability to maintain normal blood pressure. Treatment options are similar to humans including the use of many of the same medications." The Dog Health Guide is a complete resource for understanding heart disease and congestive heart failure in dog. Heart Failure, commonly referred to as Congenital Heart Failure simply put, is the heart’s inability to sufficiently fill with blood OR it’s inability to distribute a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body. Quick links to topics covered: Introduction to Congestive Heart Failure in Dog (see below) Anatomy of a Dog Heart (see below) Canine Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms Heart Murmer in Dog Dog Lung Sounds Types of Heart Disease In A Dog Acquired Heart Disease In a Dog Heart Medicine For My Dog Dog Food For Heart Problems Exercise for Dog with Heart Problems The Basics - Congenital Heart Disease in Dog1 in 10 dogs or over 3 million dogs a year are diagnosed with congestive heart failure in dog. Dogs do not get heart attacks like people do. Instead they are diagnosed with "heart failure". This doesn't mean their heart just stops working. It does mean that their heart is slowly failing and needs medical attention. The other major difference between dogs and humans is that in humans, heart problems are often caused by the build-up of fatty deposits or lesions. Dogs do not accumulate fat in their heart.Dog's suffer from a weakening of the heart muscle called congestive heart failure in dog. Your dog's body requires a certain amount of blood to be pumped through it. When the heart cannot keep up with what your dog needs, dog congestive heart failure occurs. To compensate, your dog's heart may beat faster, resulting in more damage. Congestive heart failure in dog is usually not curable, however with treatment your dog could continue to live a good quality of life. Depending on the extent of heart failure, the disease can worsen slowly. As the heart gets weaker, other organs are strained causing multiple health problems. Once under treatment, you might see heart failure (remember dogs do not have heart attacks, but have reduced heart function) effect your dog at random and infrequent times. Anatomy of a Dog HeartThe heart is made up of two upper (atria) and two lower chambers(ventricles), connected by heart valves that regulate blood flow. Blood goes from your dog?s body into the right atrium and then moves through a valve into the right ventrical. From the right ventrical the blood goes into the lungs where it receives oxygen. From there it goes into the left atrium and then the left ventrical. The left ventrical is the biggest part of the heart since it supplies the dogs entire body.Blood Pressure is an important part of heart failure. It has two gages-the systolic (the top number on the reading) which is the usual rhythmic contraction, following each dilation (diastole) during which the blood is driven onward from the chambers of the heart to the body and the diastolic (the bottom number on the reading) which is the usual rhythmic dilation, following each contraction (systole), during which the heart muscle relaxes and the chambers of the heart fill with blood Usually problems start in the heart valves as with age they don?t fit together when closed as well as they did when your dog was younger(degenerative mitral valve disease). With leaky valves, the heart has to work harder which weakens the heart itself (the heart muscle). Mitral valve disease is the most common cause of heart failure in small dogs. 
Treatement of Canine Heart DiseaseRecent studies of ACE-I inhibitors shows their effectiveness in dogs with certain kinds of heart disease. These are the same drugs used by human heart patients. Studies of the ACE-I drug enalapril in dogs with moderate to severe heart failure due to mitral regurgitation (MR) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), enalapril improved survival by >100%, reduced reducing pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) and, improved the quality of life scores. Exercise capacity is also improved in dogs with experimental mitral insufficiency.Other drugs such as Benazepril has also improved survival time for congestive heart failure in dog vs. dogs that have not used the drugs. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) have proven to provide additional benefits in human patients by blocking pathological remodeling, presumably slowing progression of heart disease and by normalizing serum electrolyte concentrations. Today, ACE-I represent the cornerstone in the chronic management of congestive heart failure (CHF). They are indicated in virtually all cases of systolic heart failure in which they are tolerated. Problems sometimes occur if your dog is on ACE-I and other types of medications such as vasodilators, diuretics, and sodium restriction. As your holistic veterinarian about Herbal and homeopathic remedies that have a good track record for success in supporting the heart and circulatory system. A good source for a dietary supplement made for this purpose is PetAlive Heart & Circulation Tonic for natural treatment and prevention of Heart Disease and improved circulation.
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Sources: Nelson, O.R. - "Home Care of the Heart Failure Patient"Washington State University. ACE Inhibitors and Azotemia in Dogs with Heart Disease
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