Fainting

[MyBoySamson]

I took Samson to the vet about two months ago for a check up, and they detected a slight heart murmer. Could Samson be prone in getting subaortic stenosis. He does not faint, but he wears down when playing quickly. He is about 2 years old. What causes subaortic stenosis? And what are the signs?

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

I took Samson to the vet about two months ago for a check up, and they detected a slight heart murmer. Could Samson be prone in getting subaortic stenosis. He does not faint, but he wears down when playing quickly. He is about 2 years old. What causes subaortic stenosis? And what are the signs?

A murmer is the first heads up. And if a general vet found it, it is definitely a Cardiologist will want to look at.

AS, SAS and BCM are all conditions that can have a murmer and then have fainting. Unfortunately if left unchecked, sudden death is on the only next "symptom" you will find.

You just listed 2 symptoms condusive to a heart condition. Please get him to a Cardiologist today for proper testing and diagnosis. If he does have a heart condition, medication given early can give him years of a quality life.

 

[kactus]

i am by no means an expert but my understaning of baileys SAS from my meeting with his cardioligist is..
SAS is a narrowing of the main artery which takes blood away from the heart. on the scan he was able to show me this quite clearly in bailey. the narrowing means that the blood is squirted through with loads of force like when you nip the top of a hose pipe! normaly their blood should go through there at 1 metre per second. baileys is graded 4 so his blood is going at 4m/s. the murmur that they hear is the distortion and turbulance of the blood going through in this abnormal way.
bailey is on beta blockers to minimise the risk of any future further complications that may (or may not) arise.
hope tha t helps. i definatly recommend getting it assessed by a specialist. im now aware of what to watch out for and much more aware of his condition. it was fascinating too to see the scans etc.

 

[Ally]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply but I have been away with work. Thank you for all your advice. I will take Molly back to the vets to see if she can be referred to a specialist although this week my vet was going on a cardio course and will soon be able to do ECG's. I will keep you updated. We have been out today for a couple of hours and Molly had a good run with no faints so hopefully it is nothing too serious. Ally

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply but I have been away with work. Thank you for all your advice. I will take Molly back to the vets to see if she can be referred to a specialist although this week my vet was going on a cardio course and will soon be able to do ECG's.

I had not noticed you were in England. I am not sure how Specialist training goes over there for heart. But the very basic start is a long lead EKG. Good luck!!

 

[AngelsMommy]

Similar Situation

My baby Angel passed out once. It was so scarey and I was hysterical crying because when she fell she hit her head on our front door. Well I got her up on all fours and she started throwing up. After that she seemed ok. Playing like normal. I took her to the vet right away and the vet said that Angel's heart sounded great and she looked healthy, so she was shocked that this happened.She took blood and the blood work came back perfect! She then proceeded to tell me that she has heard of one other case like this where a puppy was given revolution and 2 days later had a seizure! So we quickly grabbed the Revolution box and looked at the warning label- it says may cause vomiting and an unbalance. So that is what happened to my baby!!! She is fine now and runs crazy all over the house- so she is back to her normal self. I wanted to warn people that Revolution is a strong medication - my Angel is very petite- only 30 lbs and is 5 months old- but built like a brick house!! So be careful with giving your dogs this stuff. My vet took Angel off of Revolution and put her on Heartguard- which my other dog (a maltese) has been on for years

 

[Jen79]

Boomer has fainted too..

Like everyone else has said, get your baby checked out again.
Last year when I took Boomer to get his annual vaccination the vet detected a slight heart murmur.
The very next day we were out for a run in the bush when Boomer suddenly became wobbly and fainted after running after a rabbit. (He had fainted once before and I hadn't realised...I thought he had been bitten by something)...anyways, straight back to the vet we went and after an ultrasound he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which is an enlargement of the heart that means that the valves don't close properly causing that whooshing sound that is a murmur. It also mean that the heart has to work much harder.
He's on daily medication now for the rest of his life, and he's not allowed to exercise too hard. The vet said this condition is common in boxers.

I don't want to scare you, but I think you need to find out the cause of the fainting so that hopefully you will be able to do something to prevent it happening again.
Good luck. Please let us know what happens...
Jenny

 

[brwneyesk8]

Not to be rude in anyway....but if humans were to faint here and there it would be considered serious. They'd have meds and doctors visits and tests...Same goes for pups. She should be checked out by another vet and most likely a cardiologist. If she has done this after waking up in the morning it is still very serious. That could be a blood pressure issue, respiratory problem, blood sugar, enlarged heart, stenosis (all of what the folks here have stated and much more)! I understand you're busy and it does get extremely hard to work in vet visits and scheduling in our days but this is not a bunch of little red bumps on her belly that look itchy. I hope everything goes well for her!! Give her lots of hugs from us!
Everyone here has stated issues that are life threatening and they deserve the attention asap.
I feel for you and your dog. This must be eating at you to know what's going on. Please let us know how the visit goes!!

 

[Hunch]

Related Fainting question

Last night our baby, Chase, who is 8 month old fawn female was sleeping for about 2 hours, woke up and had to pee so I let her outside. anyway it was an extremely cold night at around -25C but she went out very quick and did a quick run around the yard and right in. As she took about 2 steps into the house she wobbled and fell on her side, her eyes never really closed but it was very scary. I took her to the vet and she said that it seems to be a heart problem. She's taken blood and we'll find results within a day or two. The problem she mentioned was called "sinkape" though I know I'm spelling that wrong I can't find any reference to something like it (sink-a-pee is how it sounded) anyway it sounded like SAS to me.

My question to everyone is about the cardiologist, the vet would like us to take her to the cardiologist which is about 1.5 hours away since there isn't one here. Should we get a 2nd opinion from another vet before we go? Also everyone mentions they've gone, can someone give me a ballpark of what to expect in regards to cost for the cardiologists tests? Its by no means a matter of money its just I'd like to know if i'm looking at $500 or $5000.

Oh by the way we're located in London, Ontario, Canada.

thanks again everyone, i've been a reader for months now but this is my first post. I wish it was a happier one though.

One last thing, I hope someone will read this. I wasn't sure if I should post a whole new thread. If I don't hear within a day I'll post a new one.

 

[kassa]

The word you're looking for is syncope, and it means a fainting spell. In the case of most of the heart problems boxers deal with, the heart isn't getting oxygenated blood out to the rest of the body and blood pressure drops and the dog faints. Usually things kick back to normal and the dog comes to. But sometimes they don't.

Depending on where you live, a 24 hour EKG (called Holter monitor) will cost $200-$300 American. If your vet can arrange to borrow one, there's a list on the ABC website of places that will read the recordings for a fee.

http://americanboxerclub.org/boarded_cardiologists.html

Also, the Boxer Club of Canada appears to own a monitor -- perhaps you can find a contact there for more info, especially if your breeder is a member.

http://boxerclubofcanada.com/health.html

There's apparently research going on at Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph on boxers and dobes with cardiomyopathy. If that's where your vet is recommending you go, sounds like a good plan.