Viagra can perk up dogs with a specific ailment

We have a lot in common with our pets, from enjoying walks in the outdoors to liking to lounge around on the couch.

But using Viagra? How would Viagra be useful for a dog?

Read on. You might be surprised.

Many pet owners may be interested to learn that another thing that we share with our pets is that they also get heart diseases (although not always the same kind of problems commonly seen in people).

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, of the dogs in the United States examined annually by a veterinarian, approximately 3.2 million have some form of acquired heart disease and may be in heart failure. And pet owners may be surprised to learn that, like human medicine, there are specialists available to treat heart problems in their dogs and cats.

When a pet is diagnosed with a heart problem by their regular veterinarian, they can take their pet to a board-certified veterinary cardiologist.

Veterinary cardiologists can save the lives of younger pets with heart birth defects and extend the length and quality of an older pet’s life, often using cutting-edge treatments like those used in humans. Also similar to humans, heart disease in pets comes in many forms, and treatments range from medications to surgery.

For example, many cats are put on beta-blockers, which people also use routinely for hypertension and heart muscle disease.

Both cats and dogs respond well to the standard oral therapy for congestive failure. Pet owners can purchase their medications from the local human pharmacy just as they would for themselves or their human family members.

The good news for pet owners is that most of the medications used in veterinary cardiology are off patent and are very affordable.

Some patients are candidates for surgical repair of birth defects, angioplasty and occasionally bypass surgery. Surprisingly, dogs do extremely well with the implantation of pacemakers.

Many dogs experience renewed energy and typically live normal lives once a pacemaker is implanted. The small pacemaker generators used in veterinary medicine are actually the same devices used in people.

The use of defibrillators in dogs is being researched and may also become desirable in breed-specific diseases with severe rhythm problems, such as in boxer dogs.

In addition to pacemaker implantation, veterinary cardiologists also may implant a device called an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) in dogs with severe rhythm problems.

“This device also senses the heart rate of the patient, but it is used primarily to sense very fast heart rhythms,” said O. Lynne Nelson, DVM, MS Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and assistant professor at theWashington State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

“In some patients, the very fast rhythms can degenerate into ventricular fibrillation and death. This is what commonly happens at the end stages of a ‘heart attack.’ The ICD senses the fast rhythms and sends low-energy electrical impulses to the heart to normalize the heart rate.”

WSU implanted the first ICD in a boxer dog with a symptomatic heart rhythm disturbance in 2004, and many canine patients are being evaluated for such a device.

Many of the diagnostic tools veterinary cardiologists use to diagnose heart disease are also the same technologies used in human health care.

It has been in just the past two to three years that the use of the advanced cardiac imaging technique 3-D heart echo in human health care has become more commonplace. Now its use is being applied to veterinary medicine.

This technology uses sound waves to create moving pictures of the heart and is both noninvasive and painless. It allows veterinarians to view the heart instantaneously in real time.

“The new 3-D technology can help veterinary cardiologists make better diagnostic decisions because we can view the patient’s heart from any angle and see views not obtainable with conventional two-dimensional echo,” said Dr. Carrol Loyer, a veterinary cardiologist with the Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado and a board-certified cardiologist with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, or ACVIM.

Well, I promised I’d explain the use of Viagra in dogs.

Another new therapy on the forefront is the use of Viagra, but not for the same purpose as in people.

“Viagra (sildenafil) is now being used to treat both dogs and people with severe pulmonary hypertension, high pressures in the lung vessels” explained Dr. Bonnie Lefbom, ACVIM board-certified cardiologist at Chesapeake Veterinary Cardiology Associates in Virginia. This disease is physically debilitating, and many affected dogs are unable to walk across the room without collapsing.

Once they receive the proper dose of Viagra, these dogs can take short, daily walks with their owners and return to a more normal quality of life.

Owners who opt to seek the expertise of a veterinary cardiologist will discuss the pet’s specific history, signs and observations with the family veterinarian. The specialist will conduct a complete physical examination and diagnostics with particular focus on the heart.

Once the diagnostics are performed, the cardiologist will interpret the results and devise an appropriate treatment plan for the pet’s specific problem.

Pet owners wanting to find a specialist in their area can ask their regular veterinarian or log on to www.acvim.org. ACVIM is, the national organization that supervises the training and development of specialists in one of five areas, including cardiology.

Our pets are near and dear to our hearts, but sometimes it is their hearts, literally, that need a little help.