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5 yo pit dog with enlarged heart and liver

Posted By Momof2pits (Garner, North Carolina, Us) on 09/04/2012

Hi, I have a 5 year old Pitbull who was diagnosed as having an enlarged heart and liver (twice the normal size). She has a buildup of ascites fluid in her stomach. The vet has done blood test to find the cause of the enlarged organs. All tests have come back good and clear. After spending $400, the vet suggested that we take her to the University vet school for a biopsy which would run about $3,000. Needless to say, we can't afford that. At this time, she it taking heart medication and we have to have the ascites fluid drained. We just had 17 pounds of fluid drained about 3 weeks ago at a cost of $125 and within 2 weeks the fluid had come back. We can not afford to have the fluid drained every 2 weeks. Any suggestions? I am assuming the fluid is caused by the heart and liver condition, so if we could fix that it might fix the fluid issue. Our vet doesn't know what is wrong with her. Either we spend several thousands of dollars running tests and making guesses or have her put down. Any information or ideas would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!

Replied by Serenity (Schenectady, Ny) on 09/20/2012

Momof2pits-I saw your post when I was doing research online for herbs that would be good for a dog's system and felt so bad to hear about your boy that I just wanted to write you a quick note... In my research I have come across the herb Hawthorn being mentioned quite a few times as being very beneficial for dogs with heart conditions.. And Milk Thistle for the liver.. They can be gotten at any health food store or online.. I highly recommend the book Natural Remedies for dogs(Amazon) as it has SO much information on pet health conditions and Heart conditions and what herbs to give them to help treat them! Lots of advice from holistic vets! I read such good reviews on something called Hearty Heart as well if you google it im sure you will find it! I hope some of this can help with your boy!!

Replied by Sheltiemom (Birmingham, Al) on 10/01/2012

hello, I am so sorry to hear your dog is so sick. sounds like she has some very serious things going on.

one of my shelties had a heart condition. We used furosemide to pull the fluid off. It is a pill and very cheap. Have the vets suggested that for your dog? I also put him on a cardio strength pill from vetriscience along with coq 10, omega 3, hawthorne. I also gave him L-taurine and L-carnatine each day. A low fat low salt (very important) dog food. He was on natural balance duck/potato fomula because he also had allergies but that food has a lower salt content than some. If you shop around you can find the cardio support online and save money. I usually either ordered it from amazon or ebay depending on where it was cheapest. These supplements were tremendous. Not only did his heart condition not worsen, it actually improved. His cardiologist was amazed as each time she did new sonograms of his heart, it was better! I have no experience w/liver issues but I would think the low fat, low salt diet would not be hurtful for that condition.

The denamarin supplement for liver mentioned by another poster is supposed to be very good-again, shop around on the internet for the best price. There are also chat groups on yahoo for people who have dogs w/various issues. You might look for one of those to join. It is free and since the people on there have dogs w/these issues they can offer help and support. I found them very helpful to me. Sure hope you pittie gets better. I know what it is to love your dog!

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