Cardiomyopathy?!

[holleymarie]

Today I took my Holley girl to the vet to have her nails trimmed. She went nuts!!! She's never done this before! But the idiot woman who was trimming her nails put a muzzle on her, which Holley has never had on before. She REALLY couldn't breath with this thing on. She flung her head back and forth trying to get it off and catch me in the jaw and the nose several times and ripped my earring out of my ear. So, finally she took the muzzle off of Holley. Her tongue was blue and she was so scared that she went to the bathroom on the table (and I don't mean peed!). The vet came in to check on her because it scared the tech so bad and he said that she had hyperventalated. He also said that she was way too little for an 8 month old boxer. She only weights maybe 45 pounds. He said he was afraid she may have an enlarged heart, or cardiomyopathy. This scares me really bad. He said that most dogs with this disease don't live very long. We've already had such a hard time with Holley because she was diagnosed with demodectic mange when she was about 8 weeks old. A few months ago we finally got the mange well under control and now this! Any advice anyone could give me would be very much appreicated right now. I love this dog and if anything ever happens to her my whole family will be devastated!
Angela

 

[Thomas Liggin]

First, find another vet and somebody else to groom your dog. There is never an excuse to put a dog in that kind of panic. They can stop if they have to and should have refused to groom her when she got that frantic.

There are ways of handling such dogs, and it sure isn't by brute force.

Regarding Holley's size. The vet's comment was absurd. There are many fully grown females who only weigh 45 pounds. If she is 45 pounds right now, she'll probably top out at about 60. Any vet who would make such a diagnosis based solely on her weight should be avoided like the plague.

Was it only her size, or did he do any testing to make such a diagnosis. I'd certainly get a second opinion, and another vet.

Did the vet tell you this during a prior visit, or did he just come out and say this at the time of the grooming incident.

Regardless, her weight at eight months is well within the normal range.

Please give us more information about the situation, leaving out the grooming incident. Others with more experience and knowledge than I, will be able to better help you.


Tom

 

[Jan]

I'm so sorry that you had such a bad experience at the vet. What an idiot vet tech! I will pray that Holley doesn't have cardiomyopathy,

I would take Holley to a groomer next time to have her nails done. They have a lot more experience in clipping nails.

There is also nothing wrong with a 45 pound ,8 month old boxer. I would find a new vet. He shouldn't be worrying you like that with no valid reason. He would appear to know nothing about boxers. :(

Take care.

 

[Adelle]

Find a new vet

Nessa my 3 year old female only weights 47 lbs and her heart is fine so your Vet's comments are totally wrong.

I would suggest going to another vet, one who is not going to scare you with stupid unfounded comments like that

 

[rygolf25]

I agree with everyone else...Apollo doesn't like getting his nails trimmed but our vet does an awesome job. The good one's know how to keep the dogs calm and under control even while doing that.

As for the weight issue, change vets. They obviously don't know boxers at all. Our Cami is just over a year and only weighs about 40 pounds...There isn't a standard weight for any given age...I'd ask around to get another recommendation for a vet.

Good luck.
Ryan

 

[holleymarie]

I just wanted to thank all of you for all of your helpful information! I feel much better now. I have her scheduled for an EKG at another vet's office. I will let you know, but I really think that she's fine. That vet probably just my money for all of the tests he wanted to run on her that weren't even neccessary. He's already made a fortune off of us with the treatments for the mange and having her spayed! You'd think that'd be enough! Anyway, Thank You all who replied and reassured me that she will be fine!!

Thank You,
Angela

 

[Mama_Zookeeper]

I am so sorry about your bad vet experience. Forget you ever knew that vet & start new. I hope & pray your baby is fine and I have to agree with the others here that 45 lbs is very normal for a female boxer of 8 mos old. My male is 7 mos old and was weighed in at 48 lbs this morning. Don't worry about the numbers...how does she look. Can you see her ribs? Is her coat shiny & healthy? Good luck & keep us posted on Holly's EKG and I will say a prayer for her.

Dora & the Zoo Crew

 

[RamonasMom]

Having worked at a vet, I can't believe the tech did that! We only muzzled dogs when they tried to bite us and we usually took them back to the treatment room away from mom/dad first to make sure they weren't just "showing off" for mom/dad. If they insisted on being aggressive, then we muzzled them, had one person restrain, and one person trim the nails.

My brindle girl is only 52 lbs at 1 1/2 years sooo....yeah - glad you're getting a second opinion. Oh - and is she just getting an ECG or a Holter monitor. If the new vet really thinks she may have CM, an ECG may not catch the irregular heartbeats.

Keep us posted!!