Have you ever heard of an Echocardiogram? I haven't, until I talked with Dr. Siemens, our traveling Cardiologist who visits Cordova Veterinary Hospital twice a month. Dr. Siemens is very kind and caring about her patients and spoke with me about echocardiograms and the importance about them.
An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. This advanced test is available for dogs and cats, just like it is for humans. An echocardiogram is usually done by a cardiologist or a radiologist since it takes specialized training to do one properly. Unlike chest X-rays, an echocardiogram will allow for exact measurements of the heart chambers, assess the strength of the heart, and detect all kinds of heart problems. Your veterinarian might recommend an echocardiogram for your pet if they hear an abnormal heart sound with their stethoscope, if the heart looks enlarged on chest X-rays, if your pet is showing symptoms typical of heart disease, or if your pet's heart needs to be evaluated prior to anesthesia.
The echocardiogram is not painful and it is almost always done without sedation. This test normally takes about 15 minutes to perform, during which the pet is asked to lie on its side on a table in a quiet, dark room while a technician holds and comforts it. The following is a list of some of the heart problems that can be found in dogs and cats: leaky heart valves, a weak heart muscle, a thickened heart muscle, narrowed areas in the heart, holes in the heart, tumors, blood clots, fluid in the heart sac, and infections within the heart. The echocardiogram will provide a lot of valuable information so that your veterinarian can make the best decisions for treatment. Being proactive and well-informed in the treatment of heart disease is very important in order to keep the pet's quality of life high and allow it to live as long as possible with its heart disease.
Check out Dr. Siemens website: http://www.healinhearts.net/
The echocardiogram is not painful and it is almost always done without sedation. This test normally takes about 15 minutes to perform, during which the pet is asked to lie on its side on a table in a quiet, dark room while a technician holds and comforts it. The following is a list of some of the heart problems that can be found in dogs and cats: leaky heart valves, a weak heart muscle, a thickened heart muscle, narrowed areas in the heart, holes in the heart, tumors, blood clots, fluid in the heart sac, and infections within the heart. The echocardiogram will provide a lot of valuable information so that your veterinarian can make the best decisions for treatment. Being proactive and well-informed in the treatment of heart disease is very important in order to keep the pet's quality of life high and allow it to live as long as possible with its heart disease.
Check out Dr. Siemens website: http://www.healinhearts.net/
