I have not been on here for a few days as Grace and I have been away since the 30th August.
I feel wretched for you receiving this diagnosis for Mollie - I was and remain totally heartbroken that my Grace has been diagnosed with mitral valve disease.
I know there are different types of heart problems and I think your Mollie has the type that is more typical with Cockers - where Grace has the type that is more typical with Cavaliers.
She had her heart scan at the RVC recently and was relaxed enough not to need any sedation - thus far her heart has not enlarged, but we have no idea as to how fast she will deteriorate, she could have as little as one year or as many as five years before she reaches CHF. I have promised Grace that every single day is a special day for her and I can only imagine how much more painful this would be if I were in your shoes.
I have been reading as much possible to try and keep Grace healthy - she is having Butternut Box as her main diet with some raw food two or three times a week. She has one or two sardines (tinned in spring water) every other day and then she has supplements - fish oils, Dr Mercola Ubiquinol and Carnicare - I am also looking into golden paste as to whether this is something else she may benefit from. My vet has said that he needs to know what supplements she is having as sometimes they can interfere with drugs - thankfully, Grace is not yet on any medication. I have also agreed with my vet that Grace will not be vaccinated again - we will titre test, but from all that I have read she should not be vaccinated again now that she has this condition. Another item on the 'to do' list is to find a holistic vet - not to replace my regular vet, but to hopefully provide more options that may help to keep Grace healthy for longer.
As far as exercise is concerned, the cardiologist told me to treat Grace as a normal dog, my own vet advised to not let her get too hot and to stop her if she got breathless. I have totally turned her exercise regime upside down - she now has 1.5 hrs in the morning and 1.0 hrs in the evening - but this is on lead street walking with only 30 minutes of that off lead in the park - and whilst in the park I only throw the ball occasionally. Grace definitely was not happy with this regime to start with - she wanted to jump in the car, drive to the park and chase balls! I used treats when walking to encourage her and now she 'kind of' enjoys street walking and will keep reminding me when a treat is due!! In a way, I think her life now is more interesting as she is sniffing things and seeing things that passed her by before - she is also never left alone now, not even for five minutes, as she suffers anxiety when I used to leave her, which is obviously not good for her heart. My vet also advised to 'train, train, train and train' her to be calmer now and not wait until she is suffering symptoms - he knows that Grace is a totally hyper crazy Cocker and to change her routine suddenly would be harder than to start doing things differently now.
I know I'm rambling on here - my life revolves around Grace - we are currently on her 'bucket list' holiday which is three weeks and two days in Padstow! Grace is loving it and I'm having a nervous breakdown trying to get her to be calmer - my vet said not to take this holiday away from her and those words stuck with me, so we are here!
If there is any information we can exchange to keep our girls as healthy as possible for as long as possible that would be great. I read and read and read so many articles that I get lost with the different things available.
