We took Zoey in for some shots last week at the pet store and the vet was listening to her heart and noticed something odd about it. We scheduled an appointment with our regular vet and she heard something in her heart that she felt was disturbing as well. We were referred to the OSU Vet Medical Center and took her in for her first appointment last week. They did an ultrasound of her heart and determined that he has a condition they called Ventricular Premature Contraction (VPC). Basically, her heart is normal and fine, the signals that tell the heart when to beat are messed up. They will send normal heartbeat signals and then send a number of signals in rapid succession which causes her heart to temporarily go into V-Tach. For the most part she appears normal, but we have noticed that she get’s “winded” quicker and was taking more naps than normal for her. When she is up and around and playing she seems like a totally healthy puppy, but this condition can cause Sudden Cardiac Arrest at any time.
The vet put her on some heart medication, beta blockers, to possibly help with the erratic signals. We took her back to the vet after a week on the medication and unfortunately they did not see any improvement. They did start her on another medication and we need to take her back next week for another checkup to check for improvement and possibly adjust her medication again. The vet said we are not giving up yet, but that we shouldn’t get our hopes too high as the first medication is the most successful with the least amount of side effects.
She is such a great puppy with a wonderful fun loving personality. The breeder did all the right checks to prevent their puppies from developing issues, but sometimes no matter how much preventative checks you make, things can still not go as planned. We want her to have the best time with us while we have her, but it looks like she won’t live to into her teens like we were hoping.
Wouldn’t you know it! Another bad break.