Severe Pulmonary Stenosis: Needs Advice!

[MillieLou]

Hi All-

My 3 year old boxer girl has had a heart murmur since she was born, we just took her to the cardiologist and found out it is now severe, and two of her valves are a lot thinner causing pulmonary stenosis. She just started beta blockers to help slow down her heart from working so hard, and hopefully that will help a little bit, but the Dr. recommends surgery on the valves. My concern is with surgery there is no guarantee that they would be able to repair both valves, they feel confident they could fix one, but not sure about the second one. I keep going back in and forth in regards to if i should do surgery or if I shouldnt do surgery and just give her an amazing quality of life. Prior to going on the beta blockers, she was a normal dog, ran around and had a great time. The blockers are taking some getting use too and she can't run around like a crazy dog right now because her heart can't keep up, but hopefully that will change once she gets used to them.

My questions are this, has anyone had this surgery done on their dog? and two what would you do? I am all about giving the dog the best quality of life she can have, but given that boxers life expectancy isnt long anyway and they said she could live to 5-7 with this condition, I am skeptical as what I should do... I would love any advice anyone has!

Best,
Rachel

 

[Gatorblu]

I'm so sorry you and your girl are going thru this! I have no personal experience with this and I can't imagine the agony you must be going thru. The only suggestion I have is, if it is possible, to get a second opinion. Another cardiologist my give you the the confidence you need to go thru surgery or some more info you don't have now. Either way I'll say a prayer for your girl and you! We're also sending healthy ((vibes)) her way!

 

[ebjr]

We are going through a similar situation with our boy, Tito. He had surgery last night to remove the pericardial sac around his heart.
Major surgery, especially when its heart related, is a tough decision for several reason. There's always a huge risk with the surgery itself, no guarantees on the results, nor any guarantee on improving quality of life and cost can also be a factor.

We evaluated the risks vs reward (cost in Costa Rica is extremely low compared to the US). We could have simply drained the fluid and he would be good for maybe a week or 2...or maybe up to 4months. They couldn't say, but they did say that the probability of the sac filling with fluid again was very high, almost guaranteed. Doing the surgery offered a much higher chance that this would not happen again, but still doesn't address the underlying issue of what caused the fluid. However in order to figure that out, they would need to inspect the sac..best way to do that is obviously to remove it.
This absolutely improvies his chances and quality of life although no guarantees on duration. At least not until the underlying issue is confirmed.

Even if you get a second opinion, no Dr is likely to give you any guarantees however an honest opinion can help you make the best choice. Will fixing the one valve mentioned make a drastic/noticeable improvement and keep her around another good yr or possibly more? If so then it may be worth it.

Good Luck