Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Recent Pet Posts

Dog With Heart Murmur

Posted By Lena (San Francisco) on 11/05/2012

"Katie, My recently adopted 12-year old Chihuahua was diagniosed with a grade 1 murmur by a holistic vet; two months later with a grade 3 by a vet cardiologist who suggested blood pressure tests and chest-x-rays so I am so grateful that I came upon your posts on this site. She is asymptomatic though has one slightly elevated kidney reading. Bio-thorne ( in dry form ) as prescribed by the holistic vet upset her stomach so I am now giving her liquid Hawthorne drops preserved in glycerine which she willingly takes. I generally feed her Wellness Senior food along with Omega-3's or The Missing Link for skin and coat, usually adding a bit of fresh boiled chicken with rice and last week, started adding two good tablespoons of prepared raw food ( turkey, oats, carrots, kelp, etc. ) from a pet food store here. She really takes to the raw food. Do you think Hawthorne is effective in this situation as it differs from Bio-thorne. Also, since my poor doggie has broken teeth ( no bad breath at all , though ) I will have her checked by a doggie dentist as dental problems may have brought about her condition. Thank you for posting this invaluable information as I have suspected that drugs are not the only response to my beautiful Nicki's heart murmur if/when it worsens. I am inspired by your reasearch!"

Posted By Katie (Northport, Ny) on 11/20/2012

"Hi Lena. Yes, many times a regular vet cannot accurately grade a murmur this has happened to me in the past too. They do not have the specialized training of a cardiologist. Also, my cardiologist told me that murmurs can be subjective up to Grade 4.

I do not have any personal experience with hawthorn, so I cannot give you my opinion on it. I do know, however, that it's considered to be an important cardiac herb."

Posted By Ckavanagh (Roanoke, Va, Usa) on 11/24/2012

"I have extensive experience with Hawthorne, Cayenne (I use Habanero's), COQ10 (or Ubuquinol), Taurine, Carnitine, Astaxanthin, d-ribose, plus other things like Spiulina and Chlorella. I use many of these myself, but they're mainly for my Jack Russell (T-Bone). He has a leaking valve in his heart.

He has a heart murmur (3 out of 5). He was diagnosed 4-5 yrs ago. He has NEVER, to this day been on ANY heart medication. I started out with COQ10 & Hawthorne (plus Chlorella) & this helped greatly. However hos cough continued at night. I switched him to Ubuquinol (twice/day), & kept him on the rest. This spring his coughing became worse, although the Vet couldn't understand why. I put T-Bone on Taurine (amino acid), 500mg, 3x per day. His coughing became better, however he still coughed at night.

I began reading about Astaxanthin & d-ribose. I added Astaxanthin first, and his endurance increased but he still coughed at night. I then added d-ribose (2x/day, 500mg). At first nothing happened, then a 'miracle' occured on the 3rd day. His coughing STOPPED! That was about 6 weeks ago. He still will "clear his throat" occasionally, but rarely coughs. I was stunned to say the least. And thank you Dr Steven Sinatra for your books & articles leading me to Ribose.

I didn'tmention it, but I also make my own Habanero Tincture. It's EXCELLENT for the heart. It would stop his coughing (temporaily) cold. You can obviously buy it, but I prefer to make my own. Hawthorne combined with these hot pepper tinctures is AMAZING in itself, & will heal heart disease.

Posted By Virginia (North Carolina) on 07/30/2020

"How do I know how much of these herbs to give? My daughter 4 month old golden retriever was diagnosed with Grade 5 heart murmur --- he saw a cardiologist today with results: pulmonic stenosis and subaortic stenosis! I really want to try the herbal routee - can you give me some direction?"

Posted By Julie (Tn) on 08/04/2020

"You need to listen to a vet and do real medicine if your golden has SAS and PS. That is incredibly serious and life-ending. Talk to your cardiologist. They will give you both heart medication and supplement advice."

Posted By Kaylee (Usa) on 01/06/2021

"Julie, Earth Clinic is a holistic site. At one time ALL medicine was holistic. Not everyone can afford 5,000 for heart surgery. We All do the best we can so no need for judgementalism here."

Posted By lisa (minneapolis) on 01/27/2021

"How do you give your dog a supplement like Astaxanthin & d-ribose. Do you wrap it in a pill pocket? I take cayenne pepper liquid under my tongue when my heart drives me crazy and persists and it does work. Do you give a cayenne pepper in a capsule and how much do you give a 10 lb dog? I tried habenero and no can do!! LOL"

Posted By Maggie (Idaho) on 02/04/2021

"I found a very small astaxanthin softgel that was about 4mg that was easy to hide in some canned dog food and my dog took it without any problem.

I buy the D-ribose in powder form and it's easy to give mixed in with the food. It's sweet so my dog doesn't mind it."

Posted By Donna (US) on 05/03/2021

"Do not give d-ribose in powder form to dogs. Most contain Xylitol which is toxic to dogs."

Posted By Susan (Florida) on 12/13/2021

"Xylitol is toxic to dogs. D-ribose is not.

https://products.mercolamarket.com/healthypets/heart-health/"

Posted By w (US) on 09/06/2022

"Are you saying d ribose naturally has xylitol? bc mine only lists d ribose as an ingredient nothing else. are you saying that is not safe?"

Posted By JOHNEEDA (Georgia) on 10/17/2022

"Hi C Kavanagh,

Would you share about how to make the Hawthorne combined with hot pepper tinctures, please? Also please advise where you buy your supplements and how you come up with the correct dosage. Thanks."

Posted By Amanda (San Antonio, Tx) on 01/06/2023

"Hi Virginia, Sorry to hear about your daughter's golden, hope they're doing well. I would recommend the facebook group Holistic Help for Pets. They will help greatly and get to the real solution."

Posted By Karen M. (Australia) on 09/04/2023

"Hi.. I realise that your post is old and your precious may not be around any longer,, but I'm wondering how your dog went on this protocol?. Did you end up opting for meds.. would love an update"

Posted By Thankful (Louisiana) on 11/10/2024

"Julie,

My Vet prescribed the usual 3 medicines for a dog with Heart failure : Vetmedin, Furosemide, and Benazapril. His cough got horribly worse on the Vetmedin and Benazapril --which I read on the internet is a side effect of these two drugs. Further, and more importantly, If you read further down on these posts, someone mentioned all of the vitamins that these two drugs leach from the dog's body--vitamins that further drain their body from necessary nutrition for their heart health. It's no wonder that many of these dogs on these mainstream drugs get further lethargic as these drugs are literally draining the life out of them. This site is educating us on the right protocols that will bring life to our pets, and I am very thankful for the information. We all need truth. Vets do their best with the protocols given them, but many of us here have learned that many natural methods have the ability to bring healing without the harmful side effects of the mainstream drugs .