Heart murmur/mitral valve diseaseQ: I lost my cavalier king charles spaniel toby 3 weeks ago today. we don't know what exactly he died from, but we suspect he'd had a stroke. he was 8 years/8 months old. his half-brother skyler, also a cav., was diagnosed a week ago with mytral valve disease and a heart murmer between 3 and 4. he had an echocardiogram. our vet put him on 5 mg. enalapril and science diet h/r dry food. he will be 9 in november. my fondest wish is that skyler will be around a long time, but i am almost afraid to leave him. he is in mourning for toby, sleeps most of the day, is very reluctant to go outside to relieve himself, and i have to encourage him to eat. our vet said before the echocardiogram that he wasn't to have any exercise, so i won't even take him for a walk, and she's delaying any dental work because that requires sedation. we are planning a short vacation and we will need to board him for a few days. i guess i just want to know if we are doing everything we can. is there anything else we can do? my vets are wonderful, but a second opinion might help relieve some of my fears. cavs have a strong history of mitral valve prolapse or disease. what else can you tell me so i might relax and live a reasonably normal life and let skyler live his!? A: I would try making him as healthy as possible with all natural diets such as pet guard or california natural by natura or more ideally a home made diet as described in book dr. pitcairns guide to natural health for dogs and cats by richard pitcairn. also consider supplements for heart such as coenzyme q-10 at dose of 50 mg daily as well as vitamin e at same time at dose of 400iu daily. also consider supplement known as formula cv from company known as rx vitamins for pets centered in scarsdale, new york. this excellent supplement has supportive nutrients for heart such as hawthorne berry and trace minerals for heart
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CongestionQ: What type of antibiotics are used for congestion and how much do they cost? A: The choice of antibiotic is made by a vetertinarian who examines your cat. we will be happy to quote you a price and guarantee you a savings at that time.
Hip pain for older german shepardQ: I have a 12 year old german shepard who over the last year has started to really slow down and is appearing to have problems with hip pain and difficulty getting up and laying down and has a limp in its gait when it walks...a couple of things - i am noticing the signs of hip displacia with him but i also noticed that he started having an immediate problem after roughhousing with my other large dog....could the two be related? - my dog is overweight....i have been giving him leaner dog food to try to fix the situation but he doesnt want to run around like he did...he has a lot of backyard room to do so..... - he appears to have problems more in cold weather then warm - i have bought the glousetomine (spelling?) for joints from the pet store...but it doesn't seem to work nearly as well as putting aspirin in his dog food? why would that be? A: Aspirin is a direct anti-inflammatory while the glucosamine works more slowly in building up joints over weeks to months. you may want to try one of antiinflammatories at 1800petmeds like dermaxx or rimadyl. i also like their cosequin supplement as well. also add extra vitamin e to her diet at 400iu daily and vitamin c in form of ester c at dose of 1000 mg twice daily
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Pregnant dogQ: Is is ok to give my pregnant rott advantage? she is due within one week. A: Products such as advanatage should not be used on pregnant or nursing animals.
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