Heart disease questions. Please help!

I know this is long and I have 14 questions but if your dog has heart disease can you please read all of this and help me?

My 7 year old Chihuahua was just diagnosed with mild, early stage heart disease. We saw a vet who went to Cornell and has studied additionally in cardiology but she is not a board certified cardiologist. We are sending the heart sonogram pictures to cardiologists at a university as a second opinion. The vet prescribed Enalapril and for my dog to take it two times a day for the rest of her life and said that later on she will need to take more medications.
>>1. Does anyone have a dog that takes Enalapril? I want to get personal experience on how your dog/dogs are doing on this medication and if it helped.
>>2. Did your dog have any negative reactions to the medicine?
>>3. What are some things I should know about this medicine?
Obviously the vet answered all these questions for me but I know from personal experience that doctors don't always tell patients everything and every side effect.
My dog has not started on the medication yet because we are waiting to see what the university doctors say and what medicine they recommend. The vet said it is fine to wait a little while because the disease is so mild.

>>4. Another question I have is should my dog really see an actual cardiologist? There is only one cardiologist near me and we did see her but she was extremely rude and just strangely mean to us and would not do the sonogram without sedating my dog (which is dumb because my dog did just fine getting a sonogram done without being sedated yesterday). That is why we took her to a vet who just has a cardiologist specialty and will be mailing the sonogram pictures to university cardiologists.

>>5. Also what diet do you feed your dog? I wanted to give my dog Honest Kitchen because it is real food but the vet said not to because it has too much water content and dogs with heart disease cannot have too much water.
>>6. How can I feed my dog better without giving her dehydrated food? I am willing to cook for my little dog but I cannot find a realistic cook book that is also grain free.
>>7. Where can I find recipes for dog food that meet AAFCO requirements?

I am going to be calling all the holistic vets in my area to see if they can help.
>>8. My question is, do any of you with dogs that have heart disease take them to a holistic vet?
>>9. Did the holistic vet help?
>>10. What sort of supplements did they tell your dog to take?
>>11. Did the holistic vet have you change your dog's diet?

>>12. And my most important question: Have any of you reversed your dog's heart disease or have you heard of anyone who has? I believe that in most cases, all diseases can be cured so I really want to cure my dog's heart disease. I have a disease and many conditions that doctors say is incurable but I have read enough stories of people who have cured themselves to know that what doctors told me is not true. So I can't help but think my dog's mild heart disease can be cured.

>>13. If my dog does get cured of heart disease, can she stop taking the medication? Or is she going to become so reliant on it that she won't be able to ever stop taking it even if she does not have heart disease anymore?

>>14. Did you get your dog's teeth cleaned while they have heart disease? I am nervous to take my dog in to get a dental because of the anesthesia. Her teeth are building up some tartar and the vet said she can get a dental but I know that lots of dogs die during dental cleanings so I am just not sure if my tiny dog would be able to handle getting put under.

I know this is really long and I have lots of questions but that you for reading and helping!

Hello there, and I am sorry to read how worried you are about your little dog.

We had a dog some years ago with heart disease and he was on little red tablets, but I cannot remember what they were called and anyway things have probably moved on since then. However, he was on them for years with absolutely no ill effects and apart from the odd coughing session he was as fit as a fiddle until he died at the age of 16/17 of a stroke. During his later years he had a small lump removed from his gum, and his teeth were cleaned...........the anaesthetic for teeth cleaning is very light, and even very old dogs can normally cope with it.

You say that the condition is very mild, so if it was me, I would not put the dog through more examinations with a cardiologist - the most important thing is to trust your vet and what he advises, and if you cannot do this then perhaps it's time to look around for a new one, possibly with recommendations from other people.

It's easy to panic when something is wrong with our dogs - most of us on here do that on a regular basis However, with luck your little dog will go on to live a full life with the medication and good management.

As to the food, I seem to remember that we fed that particular dog on Chappie and as I say, he lived a long happy life.

Good luck.

Another question to add to my post:
The vet says that my dog should take 2.5mg of enalapril twice a day. How much does anyone else's dog have to take? 2.5 seems like a lot. I looked online and children are only supposed to take .08mg so it seems weird that my tiny 5-6 pound dog would take 5mg a day.

Bitkin, thank you for the reply! It helps a lot

Hello C There are a number of causes of heart disease, most don't 'get cured'.
I am sorry I can't answer many of your questions , some are really better addressed to your vet.

I had a dog with age related heart failure, she was prescribed Vasotop (ramipril) which like Enalapril is an 'ACE inhibitor' and it suited her very well. She lived to the age of 16 having taken the medication for a number of years.
I kept my dog Amy slim and fed her on a diet of fresh and home cooked food , she didn't have any supplements.

I don't understand what your vet means by 'too much water' fresh food has a high water content and dogs on fresh food tend to drink a lot less than those on a 'complete' dehydrated diet . I think dogs will drink as required and should have fresh water available at all times.

Good luck with your little dog..

Meg, can you share where you found recipes to cook? I want to feed my dog home cooked food but I just don't know what to cook for her. Thank you for your reply

I'm sorry I can't help but I wish you and your dog the very best.

Hi C no cook books, I prepared fresh food for kennel dogs long before 'complete kibble' was invented.
In those days it was whole paunches/eggs/fish/minced meat/vegetables.
.. and sheeps heads/ breast of lamb/oxtails/ whole chickens/ pressure cooked to soften the bones then the lot went through a mincer so the bones were eaten too .
Choosing a good variety of food means there is less chance of any valuable nutrients being missed out.

In the UK we have a number of companies who produce fresh dog food like 'Natural Instinct'. I am sure you must have something similar in the USA ..

Natural Instinct - Frozen raw human-grade meat dog food, the dog breeders' choice.

We have a section here about raw feeding with an excellent post by one of our members which you may find of use..

A rough BARF guide

I don't feel comfortable feeding raw. But no there is no fresh dog food available in the US to my knowledge. It makes me nervous making dog food without knowing if she is getting the right amounts of vitamins and nutrients :/ I am going to contact all the holistic vets in my area to see if any of them know of recipes. Hopefully there will be some truly healthy dog food available in stores soon! Thank you for your help

Bitkin and Meg, did you give your dogs with heart problems a heartworm prevention medicine?