VETERINARY CARDIOLOGY
Heart and lung disease in animals takes on many various forms.
Some of the diseases we see as veterinarians are the same or
similar to the diseases people get, and are treated very similarly.
Other diseases are unique to animals and are treated differently.
Signs of heart or lung disease vary; animals often present for
weakness or exercise intolerance, shortness of breath or fast
breathing at rest, collapse or fainting spells, or cough.
Our goals for you as a client are to tell you exactly what the
problem is, how bad it is, what the future typically holds, and
what can be done for your pet. In order to give you this information,
there is a certain amount of information we will need to obtain by
asking about your pet's health history and by performing a physical
examination, as well as diagnostic tests.
Our goals for treating your pet are high. We want your pet to feel
good on his medications, have minimal cough, eat well, and have good
quality of life.
A specialist in veterinary cardiology works with heart disease,
lung disease, and diseases of the chest. The heart and lungs are
intimately related in the chest, and if one is affected, the other
is often also affected. Since the body is one integrated organism,
a veterinary cardiologist also handles other related internal
medicine matters.
There are about 100 veterinary cardiologists. They have the extensive
training of your family veterinarian with eight years of undergraduate
school and veterinary school. In addition, they complete one year
of internship, and then two more years of a residency.
We work closely with your family veterinarian to ensure that you and
your pet receive the best of care. Your veterinarian receives a detailed
report of all our visits together, so that your records are complete in
both locations. Other problems your pet may have are generally referred
back to your family veterinarian. We often send you back to your family
veterinarian for routine rechecks, but will always want to see you
and your pet again if there are problems.