Has your dog just been diagnosed with a heart complaint? Heart disease in dogs cannot be cured but it can be managed and in some cases a lot of the damage can be reversed. There are natural remedies and herbs for dogs that can help prevent heart disease and improve the health of dogs who already may have some heart damage. Here we’ll have a look at how this may be done.

When it comes to heart disease, prevention is definitely better than cure. Is your dog eating a healthy diet? If not this may be the cause of his deteriorating health. Don’t get too upset about this, but it’s time to start learning about healthy foods for dogs and what to feed your dog to improve his health and recovery.

Conventional medications for heart disease in dogs do have known side effects. If you can, find a holistic vet who would be qualified to recommend herbal remedies such as dandelion or hawthorn that can help strengthen the heart muscle and prevent fluid build up.

Make sure you take your dog to the vet for a yearly check up even though he seems healthy. if at any time your dog starts coughing, especially during the night time or after exercise, then you should take your dog to the vet immediately as this may be a symptom of heart disease.

If your dog lacks energy and is not able to keep up with you while you are walking or there seems to be a difference in the way he’s breathing, then you should take your dog in for a vet visit. Other serious symptoms of heart disease in dogs include weight loss for no apparent reason, difficulty breathing and fainting.

Gentle exercise is also important and is as simple as taking your dog for a walk a few times a week. If your dog already has heart disease allow him to set the pace. Slow down or stop if he seems to be struggling to keep up or starts to cough.

Your dog may have been diagnosed with cardiac ischemia, which is a reduced blood supply to the heart. Reperfusion is another possible heart problem which means actual damage to the heart tissue. Both these problems will respond well to CoQ10. CoQ10 is a fantastic supplement for dogs as it not only slows down the progression of heart disease, but it will also improve the overall health of your dog. We all know that a happy dog is a healthy dog.

In order to prevent bad cholesterol (LDL) in your dog and to help your dogs heart health, then we recommend some good old Vitamin E. You should give your dog Vitamin E in 200-500 IU each day.  

Another natural supplement for heart disease in dogs is L-Carnitine. It will help with deterioration of the heart muscle. When you combine L-Carnitine with Taurine, it will increase your dog’s life expectancy. This can be given in the amount of 500-2000 mg daily.

In the end, it is very easy to keep your dogs heart safe, as long as you pay close attention to his health and remember to take him to his anuual visit to the vet each year or whenever you notice something wrong. Remember, heart disease in dogs may happen without warning, so please be watchful for any of the above symptoms.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 2:36 pm and is filed under Dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.