Let’s talk to Reggie’s owner about treatment options

How will you respond to Mrs Richardson?

• Option A

  “Reggie’s test shows that he has cardiomegaly which means that he should receive treatment. He will need Vetmedin^® for the rest of his life and it must be given 1 hour before food twice a day. If you notice him being breathless or not able to run as normal you should bring him in straight away as he could be in heart failure. I’ll give you a month of Vetmedin^® tablets to be getting on with. When you need more let us know.”

• Option B

  “As we had suspected, Reggie’s test has identified he has an enlarged heart. This means his heart disease is at an advanced stage and, although at the moment he is coping well and seems perfectly normal on the outside, on the inside his heart is starting to struggle to pump blood around his body. In this situation, most people choose to give their dog Vetmedin^® every day, which will help slow the disease down. If we don’t do anything then Reggie’s heart disease will continue to progress fairly rapidly and his heart will likely fail by this time next year.”

• Option C

  “Looking at Reggie’s test result I think his heart seems a bit bigger than it should be. Everything else looks ok though. I think he would benefit from medication so we could try him on some Vetmedin^® to see if it helps him if you’d like to? If you’d rather wait and see how he goes that’s ok but it’s likely that Reggie will develop heart failure sooner rather than later as his heart looks bigger than it should be so if you do want to start Vetmedin^® then we should probably start soon.”