A Cane Corso's Recovery From Congestive Heart Failure
by Eric
(Lafayette, NY)
Reader Question
My 5 year old Cane Corso became very ill and lethargic and started having trouble breathing. Upon a visit to our vet Yager was diagnosed with CHF and he was given a few weeks to live. The vet put him on diuretics and Vetmedin to very little avail. So he added spironolactone to his pill intake and still not much beside his breathing began to improve. So he added Torsemide too and altered some dosages.(Also on enalapril). Subsequently he began to lose fluid and gain heart function but also lost 25 lbs of muscle mass. That was last September. Since then he has shocked our vet by not only regaining 100 percent of his heart function but lost all his fluid and regained almost all his muscle mass. Now he's healthy and troublesome as ever and we feel like we owe the vet a lot. He helped us in any way to make Yager live comfortably but never expected improvement like this. I'm sure it won't last forever but we are very thankful that he is our healthy puppy again!
Answer from Our Team
Thank you for sharing Yager's story. Some dogs respond remarkably well once the right combination of medicines is found, and it's a good reminder not to give up too early. In some large dogs with heart muscle disease, heart function can improve, for example when it's diet-related or caused by a fast heart rhythm that gets controlled.
Keep up with rechecks and keep counting his sleeping breathing rate so you'll catch any return of fluid early.
See congestive heart failure in dogs for more.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.
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