[Patricia A]

So very sorry about your dogs passing. My Chloe also died from pneumonia . . She had no symptoms until I noticed at her walk that day.she would keep stopping with labored breathing. Took her to our long time vet same day. Unfortunately, when diagnosed with x-rays we trusted him when he assured us to just give antibiotics and take her into a steamy shower tap to loosen congestion on her chest and she’ll be fine He wasn’t concerned .Early the next morning we rushed her back to vets office when her breathing got worse .. We were told race to the large animal emergency hospital 15 minutes away. She died in my arms as we pulled into parking lot. We still feel such guilt . She was struggling to breath that night but since I got two antibiotics into her we thought because of assurance from vet, that breathing would improve and she’ll be fine. She was 13 and we and vet should have been more concerned at that age . I mean how could a vet see a dog the day before her death and not know she was very ill. This was many years ago but tears are still coming from my eyes thinking about this. Vet and head vet from office called to apologize . I think they thought we would sue. Mistakes are made so must forgive him and ourselves.
Regarding the enlarged heart. Many small breeds have genetic chronic mitral valve disease (CMVD) . That is what my soon to be 17 year old Chihuahua has. So if your vet didn’t clarify after ultrasound is DCM then especially if she was a small breed the enlarged heart could be from mitral valve disease. This type never has anything to do with diet.
I feed Stella’s also. Their kibble has a lot of peas/legumes. They assure me that their small breed chicken has high protein coming from meat vs legumes. However, kibble is a tiny part of their diet. Mostly mine eat Stella’s freeze dried chicken and turkey flavor/protein. I rotate to be safe with Primal turkey/sardine and duck. I also feed Bixbi rawwble in beef and chicken and salmon. I started VERY slowly with each protein/brand and now I just mix it up every few months. They also get our cooked food when appropriate. Hope this helps.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Patricia A.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Patricia A.