Cure Canine Heart Murmur: Natural Pet Remedies

I have been reading through all the positive remarks and have hope for my little Chewy. She is an 10.5 yr old chihuahua. She has a grade 5 heart murmur. The vet also said she has an enlarged heart. She is currently on enalapril half a pill a day and lasix half a pill a day. Lately she seems to be trying to catch her breath more and it seems so hard for her. I'm really starting to worry. my research has led me to this forum and I am very interested in taking a holistic approach. I'm new to this and would greatly appreciate your advice on where to start. Thank you! My email is normamitchell Dot hotmail.com.

Katie and all dog lovers, please advise me on dosages of your routine for a 115lb Great Dane. As we speak Hunter is at the vets getting x-rays and blood work but they have already told me he has stage 5 murmurs. He is approx. 10yrs old and has diarrhea, no appetite and labored breathing, not sure of bpm. The vet is going to put him on a diuretic and some other meds, I haven't gotten the prescriptions yet. I read some of the postings about the diuretics robbing the body of some nutrients and preventing it from absorbing some of the things you suggest. Please let me know asap as I don't want to start him on the vet meds if the holistic meds work better without them. Thanks to all and god bless.

To Katie: my name is Debbie. I have a pomeranian that has chf. I was told this in June 2012, she just turned 10 back in August. My vet told me that she was between 2-3 stage. I know she is getting worse this last week because her gagging is worse. She is on Enalapril 2.5 mg per day, Furosemide 25mg a day, and vetmedin 2.5 mg a day. Plus I have her on. supplement called Total Heart which she gets 2 tablet a day. I know that the meds are taking things out of her body that she needs because she has been eating a lot more than she ever has in her life. I want to get her off the meds and on the supplements that you have your dog on (which I have ordered), but I want to know how to do it. Once I get the supplements should I start with half of what she needs (half what you give your dog because she weights 10lbs) and take away half of the meds or start full supplements and half meds for a couple of weeks and then 1/4 meds for a week then off totally. I have had Midnight since she was 13 weeks old and she is my baby, please help me. My email is comet62 (at) gci (dot) net. Thanks.

Phillip, My dog had been doing really well on Dr. West's protocol. There was a big improvement in his echos after about a year on the supplements (the changes may have occurred earlier than a year, but the findings are based on the timing of his echos). But, as you'll see from some of my posts, in January of this year a naturopath suggested to me that my dog didn't need all those supplements so I took him off of most of them for a period of 5 months on her advice. However, after five months I decided to have another echo to evaluate the effectiveness of her "minimalistic" protocol and when I did – I realized that it was not effective at all to withhold those supplements and to rely on food alone (basically) for a condition as serious as MVD. I found out that my dog's Grade 2 murmur had actually progressed to a Grade 3 and that some of his cardiac dimensions had changed negatively too. So, right now, my dog is back on Dr. West's protocol: Cardio-Plus (4/day), Cataplex B (2/day), Cataplex F (2/day), Calcium Lactate (2/day), Organically Bound Minerals (1/day) and Canine Whole Body Support. As mentioned above, I am working with a new vet who didn't recommend adding the flax oil (1/2 tsp. Day) but I still think it is important to keep it as apart of the protocol. This vet has also added a few other supplements to his protocol (such as Cataplex E-2 and a few others). Whether these additional supplements are necessary or not, I don't know yet. However, time will tell. This vet doesn't take the minimalistic view in treating MVD – in fact he said that supplementation is required. In 6 months or so I will reevaluate his progress with another echo.

My suggestion to you at this point would be to put your dog on Dr. West's protocol, as it helped my dog – and it does take time to work. Also, although I can't recommend the Cataplex E2 yet, you might want to see how it works for your dog. My vet seems to really like this product.

My 8 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was diagnosed with a Grade 2 heart murmur in January of this year. After researching Mitral Valve Disease (which runs in this breed) and Congestive Heart Failure, I immediately started him on Ubiquinol, liquid magnesium, liquid carnitine, ribose and vitamin C. In addition I also give him colostrum.

I just took him back to the cardiologist to be reexamined and was told that his heart murmur is gone and that everything is within normal range. Thank God. I will keep him on these supplements for life!

Unfortunately, my first Cavalier died of congestive heart failure (which started as a Grade 2 murmur and then progressed to CHF in about 2-1/2 years). I had no experience with heart disease at the time and didn't know how to treat him. I wish I knew then what I know now. If I did, I believe my dog would still be here with me.

FYI, these are the dosages I am giving to my 25 lb. Dog:

Ubiquinol - 50 mg. TWICE daily

Liquid Magnesium - 1/2 tsp in the a.m.

Liquid Carnitine (1000 mg) - 1/2 tsp TWICE daily

Ribose - 850 mg. TWICE daily

Vitamin C - 250 mg TWICE daily

Colostrum - 1/4 tsp TWICE daily