Mitral Value Disease (MVD)
- The Pet Temple
- Sep 3
- 4 min read
Another great resource which explains in detail how this disease affects small dogs.
Heart Disease is very common in small white dogs. This is what i was recently told by a Specialist vet in HK.
Unfortunately Alice (my 7 year old Female, Maltese), is at the end stage of her heart disease. I was told that she could have months left, I can't tell you what hearing those words does to you but I also appreciate that there is no sugar coating this awful disease.
Recently Alice had an emergency stay in ICU, she had fluid build up in her chest. To be honest, even though we have been managing this disease for the past few years and she's on medication, I was surprised at how quickly the fluid build up developed. She had to stay for about 4 days in ICU in the Oxygen Tank and was being drip fed all her medication, it was terrible to be honest and it was touch and go as to whether would be able to breathe on her own, thankfully she was well enough to be released and 1 vet visit and 2 heart scans since, although on her last legs, she's still with us (thankfully). We lost her sister Belle earlier this year (Feb) to heart disease and Jose (17 years old to Pancreatitis and no insurance plan) in July, so the thought of loosing another one so soon would be too heartbreaking to bear.
There are no official statistics on how many dogs have this disease in Hong Kong but general studies have suggested that 25-30% of older dogs are prone to this disease. The most likely to develop this disease are older, smaller breeds such as King Spaniels, Mini Poodles, Maltese, Chihuahuas. Given that we know how Hong Kong has a large smaller breed dog population, we know that this disease is prevalent (i.e. Alice) and it's something that many dog owners are having to deal with on a daily basis.
The positive side is that the disease can be managed with pain medication over a certain time, depending on what stage they are on in the disease. The not so good news is that the heart will degenerate over time and meds dosage which have been increased over time, will no longer be effective.
Alice's list of daily meds is exhaustive and some of the medications need to be given 3 times a day. With the amount of meds that she is taking, it could be kidneys that fail before her heart, it's one of the many side effects of having to take so many meds to keep her leaky heart pumping. She also needs to go get her heart checked every 3 months (or earlier if need be). I have been lucky with Alice's vet bills as the majority of the expenses have been covered by Insurance, so i highly recommend getting insurance. We use One Degree and so far been happy to stay on their plan (feel free to use our referral code on the hyperlink). She was insured at 3 years old and for the first year, there didn't seem to be any heart disease concerns. So we've been lucky that she's been covered for most of her visits, this has been a lifesaver, as I don't have insurance for Lily and her vet bills have been astronomical. You can read all about Lily's medical conditions here.
I have to commend Acorn Vet (Dr Andy) and the Ark for giving Alice the best medical care she could ask her, I'm lucky to live closeby if there are any emergencies. Also Mid Levels Vet has also been great for emergencies before 9 pm when we have needed them. Also an incident last year when a small dog's paw got caught in the escalator, we all ran directly to Mid Levels and thankfully they accepted the run in straight away (forever grateful for that), as the person who was looking after the dog wasn't familar of vet clinics in the area. I understand that poor dog had to have a toe amputated!
Some non-clinical signs that could be heart disease in your dog which I didn't pick up on earlier on:
Excessive panting when outside (tongue literally on the floor)
Heavy breathing especially when resting (you can literally see the heart overworking and it feels like it's going to jump out of their chest!)
Persistent coughing (especially morning and night)
Shortness of breath, low fatigue
Discomfort during everyday activities
Unexplained weight loss
It was a particularly hot day that day... but there was definitely some signs ... RIP gorgeous Belle.
This post is dedicated to Belle Macfarlane and all dogs who have passed on from Heart Disease! They have the biggest of hearts of all in every sense of the word!
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