Dear Dr. Fox:
My 10-year-old miniature pinscher recently had a tooth extracted. The vet said my dog has an enlarged heart and a murmur.
The next day, I took him back to the vet because the prescribed medication caused him to suffer. My dog refuses to eat. I have to force-feed him. The vet recommended that I take him to a cardiologist.
A.T., the District
DF: My guess is that you did not take your dog for annual checkups that might have disclosed underlying health problems. These surfaced following the stress of general anesthesia and dental surgery.
I cannot stress enough the importance of regular veterinary checkups for dogs and cats, especially from middle age on.
Your experience underscores the attendant risks of dental surgery in older animals, especially those whose oral health has been neglected. Neglect can mean bacteria and inflammatory substances from diseased teeth and gums entering the dog’s bloodstream and harming internal organs, especially the kidneys and heart.
The medications you listed were appropriate, and once out of your dog’s system, he should feel better. Give your dog a daily supplement of probiotics and B complex or brewer’s yeast and coenzyme Q10.
RUNT TROUBLE
Dear Dr. Fox:
We fell in love with Zoe the moment we saw her. She was friendly and a little ball of energy.
One thing we noticed: Her brother was almost twice her size. Now she is 2 and only 39 pounds. She has always been a finicky eater, but what worries us the most is her lack of energy.
For the first year, her activity level seemed normal, but now she sleeps most of the day and night. She won’t fetch, run or play with any toys. When we walk her, she walks slowly and will sometimes just stop in the road, refusing to move.
We have invisible fencing in our yard, but she does only her business there and then wants to come in. The only other health issue she was treated for was head tilting, which the vet blamed on congestion. She also has some dental issues and will require a cleaning next year.
Her diet consists of dry dog food, rice, carrots and biscuits, but some days she only eats a few treats. I decided to feed her dry food because I had heard it was better for her teeth.
R.M., Shelton, Conn.
DF: You most probably acquired the runt of the litter — the pup that, in competition with other developing embryos in their mother’s uterus, was almost crowded out and had a small placenta.
So her development became impaired early on, even though she was “a little ball of energy” when young.
I would suspect a congenital or developmental abnormality of the heart or hydrocephalus, which could account for some of her symptoms and dull behavior. She might develop seizures. The best treatment is tender loving care and appropriate medications as symptoms surface.
FAT KITTY
Dear Dr. Fox:
My 4-year-old Siamese cat is overweight at 14 pounds. I’ve fed her Wellness CORE dry food. It’s all protein and fat, no carbs.
She is shedding terribly. I brush her almost every day, and it keeps coming. She also has developed fur knots that I mostly must cut out. Could knots be a symptom of a thyroid illness?
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