Boxer cardiomyopathy

[weluvOTIS]

Last Thursday Otis and I went for a walk. On our way back from the walk he collapsed! Luckily I had my cell phone with me and I was able to get ahold of my hubby. We rushed to the emergency vet and they think that he has a heart condition called boxer cardiomyopathy. I have done some research of course via the internet. I just want to know if anyone else has gone through this with their boxer and how is he/she doing. We do plan on getting him an echocardiogram done soon, probably within the next month. We would right away, but we would have to travel down to the University for it and thats an hour and a half away and I am 9 months pregnant right now. Anyone with any input would be great!

Nel

 

[bommy]

Nell

this site has some great info on cardiomyopathy especially in the health forums.

Jacqui

 

[Teressa]

My Boxer was diagonised with Boxer Cardiomyopathy in January 2004. He is currently taking a half of an 80 mg. tablet of Solatol once in the morning and then again in the evening. We did have to adjust his dose after the first three months as he was still having some irregular heart beats. He seems to be doing well, but I know he could go at any time. He just celebrated his 4th birthday in July. I am wishing you good luck with both your fur & skin babies. Hang in there. Teressa

 

[mobrian]

I too am treating my 8 -9 year old rescue Buster with Solatol. He has done very well on the medication. I think it makes him tired but he has not collapsed in a long time. Since you are not going to be treating Otis right away be sure to keep his activity level down. It would not take much to make Buster collaps. Sometimes it was just going out to do his business and walking up a couple of steps.

Best of luck with Otis and your baby on the way.

 

[Leia]

I lost my 10 year old boxer to boxer cardiomyopathy last year. The main thing that we did for him through his last few weeks was to keep him calm. He passed out twice. Both times was after running around. He was put on medications but finally lost his battle on June 23, 2003. The vet can advise you as far as heart medications and maybe some calming agents. We did not try to prolong his life we just tried to make him as comfortable and happy as we could. I am glad that I had him as long as I did. I just wish there was a cure for this awful disease that affects our babies. He let me know when it was time to visit the bridge. Georgie held on as long as he could for us.

 

[Draymia]

I know how scary this is for you. Your vet also needs to run a "Holter Monitor" test on Otis. True Boxer Cardiomyopathy will probably not show up in any other test. The Holter test is like a 24 hour ECG. A normal ECG will only run for 3-8 minutes.

Here is a site for Dr. Kate Meurs Holter form. There is a contact number and your vet can get all the necessary equipment from them. Dr. Meurs is very good in working with your vet. Dr. Meurs is doing research for the American Boxer Club (and others) to try and find out more information on Boxer Cardiomyopathy.

http://www.boxerunderground.com/PDFs/AOSU Holter Form.pdf

Tell Otis to take care.

 

[boxers4life2001]

My parents boxer was diagnosed with BCM 2 years ago after having several collapsing episodes. We rushed him to the hospital and his x-rays and bloodwork were fine but his ECG showed that he was still having run's of VPC's. We immediatly left our hospital and and drove over 3 hours to OSU to have him seen on emergency (to look at him him looked perfectly fine.) They had to call the cardiologist in to look after him. They were able to stablize him and he was started on Sota. A few weeks later we had the Holter monitor placed and the results revealed he was having less VPC's but still enought to be concerned. They increased his dose to 80mg twice daily. Since he started Sota he has not had anymore collapsing episodes (knock on wood.) While we were at OSU they mentioned the BCM study Dr. Meurs is doing he was actually accepted into the study!! Just last weekend we drove back to OSU for his 2 year recheck aapointment. They do a detailed echo on him and place the Holter Monitor every year. This helps us to know if the meds are still working well and if they need to be adjusted at all. So far Cayenne is doing good since his diagnosis.

I strongly recommend you take your baby to a cardiologist as soon as possible. We were lucky with Cayenne, he collapsed which was a sign somthing was wrong, unfortunaly the first sign for a lot of boxers with BCM is sudden death. I know it is bad timing with you being 9 months pregnant, is there anyone who could take Otis to the university for you, or go with your husband? I too would restrict his activity as much as possible until you get a difinitive diagnosis and start to treat it. All three of Cayenne's episodes happened when he got excited. Like others have said, an ecg and echo might appear normal, you need a Holter Monitor placed on him to see what's going on. Good Luck with Otis, if you have any questions please feel free to pm me!!!

~Carrie~

 

[BXR BUS]

I know the feeling.....

I took my Arley into the vet for his one yr check-up and shots etc and when they listened to his heart it was not good news. I was floored!
I took him to the cardio Dr within days and had the holter done, the tape was sent to Dr Meurs at OSU and when the results came back I was not prepared to hear what I did, his diagnosis was a grade 4 arrhythmia the worst possible diagnosis. I just kept thinking "He is only 1"
He has been on Mexiletine 3 times a day and it has helped, because of his age I holter him every 3 to 6 months (just because I am paranoid)
I now have come to the realization that this is all I can do for the lil guy and that I just have to enjoy every minute that he is with me. I dread the day when I will be faced with losing him. I just hope and pray that he can continue to live a long time.

You did not say how old Otis is.
It is a treatable disease and once diagnosed with the proper grade of arrhythmia treatment will be fine.
Good luck and keep us posted as we can all learn new things.

 

[kassa]

Just to clarify -- exercise doesn't necessarily bring on the VPCs. When you do a holter you will keep a diary that keeps track of what your dog is doing at various points in the day -- that way you will know when the events are taking place.

They often take place when a dog is sleeping, or just looking out the window. That kind of fainting spell will be less obvious than one that happens when they're in a full speed gallop, but if God forbid something happens when the dog is active, do NOT blame yourself, because it might just as easily happen in their sleep.

A pattern may show up when you do a Holter, but maybe not. By all means restrict activity, but not to the point of frustrating the dog (or yourself).