Exactly what causes"CHF"n minpins and does surgery help?my vet said by inbreading a brother n sister.

Question

I know I should have asked this question first, however, I was very nervous when I signed up. So, this makes it my 2nd ? "Shorty is my minpin's name and was born w/"CHF". Gonna make this brief.Shorty's 2nd b/d was Feb.25, 07 as I previously stated for those that did not get a chance to view my question be4.He was given 6mos.to a year at that. Shorty takes enalapril, lasix and he has coughing spells. He cannot run much oustside cuz when he runs 2 much he will pass out. I left that out be4 by accident. Apart from that we give him "quality of life" like our vet said and I luv him so, so much.I have been reading these ? n ans.4 2 days now and its really depressing. I feel that he is not suffering for most part n I cannot put him to sleep.Although my husband is the 1 who takes care of him when he passes out or has a bad coughing spell cuz I freak out.Once again, I give him more luv than ne1 sometimes I think more than my hubby(lol not true) but I do luv him dearly. p.s. my 1st puppy

Answer 1

I am very sorry, it is very heart breaking to have a pet and lose at a young at due to health problems.

You vet is semi right, Congenital Heart Failure does involve breeding but it does not need to be close breeding like the vet suggested. It occurs quite often in humans as well but not because of close inbreeding, it is a result of genes that can be past down to offspring the reason it is named "Congenital "
There are other forms of heart disease but Congenital is related to a gene passed down from a parent that has is a carrier of a gene.

I am sure you and your husband are not related but for examples sake if he had congenitive heart failure and you did not(and no one in your family had) there would be a 12 1/2% chance if the 2 of you decided to have a child the the child also would be CHF positive, but even if the child should be luck it could pass on the chromosone to it child

Genes are sort of like coins that have a head and tail side, your husband your would supply part which has 50% chance of chf you supply part which is 0% so that 2 parts come together, if the CHF chromosone is passed it joins with your clean chromosone, but inside the fetus the pair of chromosone gets activated, "heads" the child get CHF or "tails" it doesn't.

The same holds true with dogs, but the very best breeders keep health histories on their dogs, if they have a dog that produces a pup with a suspected genetic problem they terminate the breed line to avoid potentially passing down problems and will test for genetic problems. THe problems lie when you have breeders that are not doing this and puppymills that produce papered puppies, so you end up passing these genes into the blood lines as more and more are produced it becomes hard for the good breeders to find suitable mates that have several generations clear of CHF other genetic diseases, but the best breeders try to avoid using mates with unknow histories and try to deal only with breeders that operate like they do. the problem is for purchasers to try and find them, because you have maybe 2 really good breeders who are breeding to try to preserve a healthy breed compared to 200 or more who are breeding only for profit that do not care about what genetic messes they are creating and people like yourself become the victims whose heart and wallets become broken.

Ask your vet to refer you to a specialist, he can best advice you as to what surgery entails, the risks and the chance your dog could lead a normal life, once you know what the odds are you then able to make an informed decision as to what is best for your pup.

If in the future you decide on another min pin be very choosy about your breeder, ask them for prove on breed lines and genetic testing, mostly they will be breeding show lines and parents will be champion titled, if they have a pet quaity pups often only very minor physical flaws they sell the pups for less than many backyard breeder do but you have the assurance of pup that was bred clear of genetic disease.

When I went looking for a chinese crested pup I first check what kind of genetic problems existed and then searched for a breeder that did CERF and OFA testing. I found and ended up with a fantastic sturdy pet quality pup who only real fault is he is slightly to big to be a show dog, I do not have to worry about him going blind, developing legge calve perthes, having other hip or knee problems, he has a well forms jaw great teeth alignment, he can hear when he wants to, he was not bred not just to look pretty but well boned so that as to avoid leg fractures that is very common in poorly bred ones, so he is able to play rough and tumble with my larger dogs




Using the OFA and CERF registry websites I can even use to help find a good breeder

http://www.vmdb.org/cerf.html
http://www.offa.org/

by searching for Royal Vista , Delcrest, Spruceacres, Tri-Ryche who have dogs that have tested normal

I was able to come up with these breeders who do genetic testing for cardiac and other genetic diseases in miniature pinschers
http://tridelminpins.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/ar3/anrich/contents.html


If more and more people insisted on genetic testing and refused to buy pup that did not come with genetic guarantees it would force more breeders to breed responsibly and force those that do not want to out of business, and in the future many of the breeds the have severe health issue would recover and people would not be facing the heartbreak your facing.

I have been in your shoes before, I know the pain, I also know I never want to go thru it again with a puppy, so I spent time learning how to avoid that kind of trouble

Answer 2

In the case of CHF I am surprised that your vet has not prescribed
furosemide. The drug enalapril is designed to aid and increase the hearts ability to function where furosemide is prescribed to reduce the build up of liquid around the heart. This is what causes the coughing. I would ask the vet about this as well as digoxin.
I am a former long time breeder of Pins and as stated CHF can occur in any dog at any time. Currently my 15 year old has CHF. It was diagnosed over a year ago. She has her bad days and good days but in all she does pretty well. Coughing is minimal but anytime there is stress to the heart through physical activity this increases the hearts need to work therefore effects the liquid around the heart invoking more coughing. Keeping the dog relaxed is key. Good Luck.

Answer 3

salam... A Nasheed is an Islamic-orientated music. traditionally, that's sung utilizing vocal music or making a music with out instrumental accompaniment or followed in problem-free words by a daff. If those nasheeds have Islaamic meanings with out any musical gadgets then there is not any issue in listening this. Then yet another condition is that it received't change right into a habit using the undeniable fact that diverts listeners of the nasheeds from the recitation of the Quran. yet another aspect is they ought to no longer have transferring tunes which make the listener sense mesmerized as takes position to those who pay interest to songs. that's the case with lots of the nasheeds which seem those days, so as that the listeners now no longer pay any interest to the coolest which technique of the words, because they're so entranced by the tunes.

Answer 4

In general, heart failure cannot be prevented, although early diagnosis of the underlying cause can provide an improved quality of life. Once diagnosed, you should prevent excessive physical activity or excitement, avoid high heat/humidity and avoid high salt (sodium) foods or treats.

There are many causes of heart failure in dogs, including: birth (congenital) defects of the heart, degeneration of the heart valves, heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy), heartworm disease,diseases of the pericardium (the lining around the heart), and irregular electrical rhythms of the heart (arrhythmia).

Dogs of any age and any breed can develop heart failure. There is certainly a predisposition for heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy in giant canine breeds. Many older, small breed dogs develop heart failure from abnormal function of the heart valves as the valve tissue degenerates.

Heart failure affects your dog by reducing the amount of blood that is pumped to the muscles, leading to fatigue. In addition, most cases of heart failure are associated with accumulation of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), the chest cavity (pleural effusion), or the abdominal cavity (ascites). This fluid accumulation can lead to shortness of breath and other problems such as coughing and difficult breathing.

I am so sorry for you and your dog. It is a heartbreaking experience to see your loved one go through such a thing. Please take care, and enjoy your time with him.