common canine
heart diseases
Different diseases require different treatments.
Here you’ll find a list of common canine heart diseases, so you can understand exactly what’s going on inside your dog’s heart.
Congestive Heart Failure in Dogs
Left-Sided congestive heart failure occurs when the pressure in the blood vessels in the lungs increases causing fluid to leak from the vessels into the surrounding lung tissue. Right-Sided congestive heart failure is a similar process where the fluid accumulates...
Acquired HEART DISEASE
Physiologic Murmur in Dogs
A physiologic murmur is common in large-breed dogs. This represents mild turbulence within the great vessels and is not the result of structural heart disease. No treatments or medications are required.
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Dogs
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a state of high blood pressure within the lung (pulmonary) circulation. This condition can be due to heartworm disease and embolic disease (clots into the lungs); however, some cases are considered idiopathic (cause unknown). ...
Systemic Hypertension in Dogs
Systemic Hypertension is a state of high blood pressure within the body. This means that the heart must work very hard to propel blood forward, which increases oxygen demands and can cause changes to the myocytes (muscle cells). In veterinary medicine, this...
Heart Base Tumors in Dogs
Heart Base Tumors are most frequently chemodectomas, which are benign, slow growing tumors of the aortic body chemoreceptors. These tumors can cause the accumulation of fluid within the pericardial sac (pericardial effusion), which can eventually be enough to cause...
Right Auricular Mass in Dogs
A right atrial/auricular mass is most likely a hemangiosarcoma. Other tumor types would include chemodectoma or carcinoma. The prognosis is typically poor; however, with chemotherapy and surgery (pericardectomy or pericardial window), these patients can typically...
Pericardial Effusion in Dogs
Pericardial Effusion is a condition where there is a fluid accumulation within the pericardial sac. This causes the pressures outside of the heart to rise. When a critical pressure is reached, the chambers of the heart begin to collapse, a condition called...
Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Dogs
Dilated Cardiomyopathy is a primary myocardial disease wherein the heart muscle is damaged and becomes very weak. The left ventricle dilates and has a marked systolic dysfunction (pump dysfunction). This causes an elevation in left ventricular and left...
Chronic Valve Disease in Dogs
Myxomatous Mitral Valve Degeneration (i.e. Chronic Valve Disease or Endocardiosis) is a chronic, degenerative disease of the mitral valve (62% of affected patients have only mitral valve changes). The normally thin and delicate valve leaflets are damaged and the...
CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE
Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) in Dogs
A Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) is a congenital cardiac disease, causing communication between the left and right ventricle. These can occur in numerous locations and the changes to be expected depends on the exact location. The development of left-sided (most...
Congenital Mitral Valve Dysplasia in Dogs
Congenital Mitral Valve Dysplasia is a condition where the mitral valve (separating the left atrium and left ventricle) did not form correctly at birth. As a result, the valve does not close (coapt) normally. This poor coaptation allows reverse blood flow (left...
Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia in Dogs
Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia is a congenital disease where the tricuspid valve did not form properly in utero. This condition allows tricuspid regurgitation (backwards blood flow) which causes a volume overload to the right heart. The long-term prognosis is difficult...
Pulmonic Valvular Stenosis in Dogs
Pulmonic valvular stenosis is a congenital condition wherein the valve did not form properly in utero. This valve does not open completely and makes the right ventricle work very hard to eject the blood volume. Over time, this causes severe hypertrophy (thickening)...
Equivocal Subaortic Stenosis in Dogs
Equivocal Subaortic Stenosis is a “grey zone” where we cannot tell if the patient has mild disease (affected) or no disease. When patients are beyond one year of age, this is highly unlikely to progress or change. Recheck echocardiograms beyond two years of age...
Subaortic Stenosis in Dogs
Subaortic Stenosis is a condition where the aortic outflow tract is narrowed. Most frequently, this a result of a partially or fully encircling fibrous ring just below the aortic valve. This can make it very difficult for blood to exit the left ventricle, causing...
Reverse Patent Ductus Arteriosus (rPDA) in Dogs
A right to left Patent Ductus Arteriosus (Reversed PDA or rPDA) is a congenital defect where the ductus arteriosus (fetal vascular connection) remains present after birth. The pulmonary pressures rise dramatically due to a problem within the lungs (Eisenmenger’s...
Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) in Dogs
A Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) is a congenital defect where the ductus arteriosus (fetal vascular connection) remains patent after birth. This allows blood to flow from the aorta into the main pulmonary artery. If left untreated, this allows severe...
Arrhythmias
Sick Sinus Syndrome (SSS) in Dogs
Sick Sinus Syndrome (SSS) is a condition where the sinus node (normal pacemaker of the heart) is diseased and not responding normally to the body’s needs. This disease is often a result of fibrosis/scarring of the sinus node or surrounding tissue, which...
3rd Degree Atrioventricular (AV) Block in Dogs
3rd Degree Atrioventricular (AV) Block is a condition where the signals for the heart rate from the sinus node are not received or allowed through the AV Node. This is usually a result of scarring/fibrosis of the AV Node where the conductive tissue is no longer...
2nd Degree Atrioventricular (AV) Block in Dogs
2nd Degree Atrioventricular (AV) Block is a condition where the AV Node allows only some sinus-initiated beats to travel through the node into the ventricle, while others are blocked. This can range in severity from mild (occasional blocked beats) to severe...
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in Dogs
Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a condition that most frequently occurs in boxer dogs. This condition consists of the right ventricle being infiltrated with a fatty or fibrofatty tissue that destroys the normal myocardium. This...
Ventricular Premature Complexes in Dogs
Ventricular Premature Complexes or Ventricular Tachycardia is an electrical disturbance, where the ventricular myocardium depolarizes at incorrect times. These may be due to numerous etiologies, which include; cardiac disease, pericardial effusion, metabolic disease...
Atrial Premature Complexes in Dogs
Atrial premature complexes are often the result of atrial dilation (left or right); however, additional considerations would be mechanical irritation (perihilar lymph node enlargement, atrial/auricular mass, heart base tumor, pericardial disease, etc.),...
Atrial Fibrillation in Dogs
Atrial fibrillation is a condition where the atrium (top chambers of the heart) are no longer allowing organized electrical activity. Rather, there is a random oscillation of electrical waves that do not allow the atrium to contract as they should. The...
Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) in Dogs
A Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) is a congenital cardiac disease, causing communication between the left and right ventricle. These can occur in numerous locations and the changes to be expected depends on the exact location. The development of left-sided (most...
Congenital Mitral Valve Dysplasia in Dogs
Congenital Mitral Valve Dysplasia is a condition where the mitral valve (separating the left atrium and left ventricle) did not form correctly at birth. As a result, the valve does not close (coapt) normally. This poor coaptation allows reverse blood flow (left...
Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia in Dogs
Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia is a congenital disease where the tricuspid valve did not form properly in utero. This condition allows tricuspid regurgitation (backwards blood flow) which causes a volume overload to the right heart. The long-term prognosis is difficult...
Frequently asked questions
Where do I take my pet to be treated?
We are a concierge service, meaning – we come to the comfort of your trusted veterinary office!
Do I call to schedule you OR does my vet do that?
Contact your trusted veterinary office. They will coordinate their team and ours to bring us in and get answers!
Do I need to be present during the evaluation?
You are welcome to be present for the evaluation, but advanced scheduling is required to make this happen.
This means you will have a known appointment time and Dr. Maran will personally walk you through the exam, findings, and treatment plan
How much does it cost?
Your trusted veterinary office can provide an appropriate estimate based on the necessary diagnostics and appointment type.
Please contact your trusted veterinary office for more details and their expected diagnostic plan.
Additional diagnostics, such as radiographs or laboratory studies, may be recommended prior to or following the cardiac assessment and this can also lead cost to vary.
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Olympic Veterinary Cardiology
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