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Prognosis if dog has pulmonary edema.

Species: Dog
Breed: pinscher
Age: 8-11 years
Hello Dr. Marie,

I´m from Brazil, so, first of all I´m sorry about my poor english.
Well, I have a 11 years old female pinscher that about one month ago, started coughing a lot suddenly and had syncopes too. She was breathing with so much dificulty. I took her to a veterinary and with the check-up the veterinary sad that she has a heart desease(mitral valve)and had a pulmonar edema. She has a little bit of hyphothyroidism too.
I´d like to know Dr Marie, with honesty, how many time my little dog is going to live, considering that I have been searching in websites of canine cardiology and some of them claim that after the first pulmonar edema, the desease is developed and the dogs have a very short time of life. In many cases about 6 months till 1 year of life only. I just would like to know if this affirmation is true. I´d be thankful if you could answer me.
Thank you.


Online vet, Dr. Marie

Dr. Marie replied:

Thanks for your question. Your English is just fine!

The textbooks will tell us that if a dog with heart disease develops pulmonary edema that they will not live long. When I first graduated from vet school I would tell people this a lot.

However, as I got more experienced I found that this is not always the case! I have many dogs in my practice that have lived 6 months or even 1-2 years with significant heart disease as long as we get them on the right medication.

Don't give up on Menininha just yet! Your vet will help you to decide if the treatments are not working, but we have really good heart medications that work well for dogs these days.

---This question was asked in our Ask A Vet For Free section.---


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Dr. MarieDr. Marie is a veterinarian who practices in a busy animal hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. She created Ask A Vet Question as a resource for good, accurate veterinary advice online. Dr. Marie treats dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats. She has been a vet since 1999.

Is an online vet visit just as good as a trip to your veterinarian? No! But, many times, asking an online veterinarian a question can help save you money. While Dr. Marie can't officially diagnose your pet or prescribe medications, she can often advise you on whether a vet visit is necessary. You can also ask Dr. Marie for a second opinion on your pet's condition.