Mieszko fell over - twice today!

[littleM]

Well, the results are in, and its what I feared, its a heart condition. They still don't know if he has thickened heart muscles making his chambers smaller (his heart is normal size), but they did find an arrhythmia. When he gets excited, its almost an extra beat for every beat that his heard does, causing his blood flow to slow to the point of him fainting.

They are going to give us some medicine to try for a week to help increase his heart output and see if that helps. We just have to try and keep him calm, which should be interesting... After a week, if he is still having issues, then we'll go the next step and do an electrocardiogram to see if the chambers are small or if its the arrhythmia is what's causing the issue, so we can get him on some arrhythmia meds. They are also concerned about CM.

*Sigh* - its looking like the days of crazy romps around the house and yard are over.

 

[Cami]

My girl also has arrhythmia's. First and foremost I would get in to see a cardiologist.
Boxer arrhythmia's CAN be different than other breeds (Familial Ventricular Arrhythmia's of Boxers) and must be diagnosed via a holter monitor.... a device worn for 24 hours. An ultrasound can show if the heart had sustained any damage thus far from the arrhythmia's.
Arrhythmia's can happen (and do) even during sleep. They can have these episodes while they are calm or in some cases high levels of stress can cause them to happen more frequently.
Since keeping a Boxer calm can be a huge task I also asked about how much her "normal" activity would hurt her. We were told to try and keep her stress free but the calm thing was a no-brainer and her cardiologist told us to let her be HER. Currently Cami can play to her hearts content but we police her and make her have down time as well and we never let her high levels of activity continue for longer than 5-10 minutes at a time without a little "calming" period.
Make sure that your vet explains the potential effects of the medicine. Some meds used to TREAT some arrhythmia's can also make certain types far worse.
That's where the cardiologist and the holter monitor comes into play. The holter determines where they are coming from (top or bottom of heart) and more conclusively of how often they are occurring much better than an EKG.
In some instances (like ours presently) they don't even need treated.
I am not saying NOT to administer the meds prescribed but that a board certified cardiologist is the BEST course of action to seek to pinpoint the exact cause....especially in a Boxer.
The holter will determine how often these are happening and if they are in runs (multiple early or skipped beats).

 

[littleM]

Thank you! That is exactly our next step is to find a cardiologist and just keep testing. We have been given Enalapril to hopefully help with the spells - none yet today - and will keep going. Thanks again for the well wishes, everyone.

 

[Gruntsmom]

Sending more healing and hopeful vibes to Mieszko. Cami gave you excellent input (having your boy examined by a cardiologist). Keeping you and your sweet boy in my prayers.

 

[dukediscm]

Sending you and Mieszko best wishes. (We actually have a human friend named Mieszko...) My Rexy boy was just diagnosed out of the blue with a right ventricular arrhythmia. His cardiologist put him on a low dose of Sota, which seems to be helping. He has not had symptoms like your baby, but it is still very worrisome. I am told many dogs can live a long time with the right medication, so hang in there.

 

[DyckDogs]

I have no experience with heart issues in boxers, but just wanted to pass along some healing vibes.
Hopefully a specialist will be able to help you with Mieszko.