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HOME MONITORING OF HEART FAILURE
by admin on April 3rd, 2018
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This article provides key aspects of monitoring your pet with heart failure at home and explains the parameters to record. These need to be monitored frequently (daily) in the few weeks after initial diagnosis and commencement of medications, or at any time when things are unstable, such as a relapse or progression in symptoms. The frequency of recording can be less (weekly) when everything is stable and your pet is happy. You can record all of these using a diary or computer database. Remember to always bring your record back with you to every visit.
Sleeping Respiratory Rate (SRR)
This should be recorded when your pet has had a period of rest and is asleep. This might be by your feet or in bed. It is best to record this when your pet falls asleep when you are in the room, as opposed to going into the room where your pet is already asleep – as they usually wake up when you enter.
Breathing is often best seen when your pet is lying on the side and the chest and flank can be seen to rise and fall. A breath in and then out is recorded as one breath. The rate is given as the number of breaths in 1 minute.
Heart rate (HR) at rest:
This is more difficult to record, but it is possible to do and it provides very useful information. The heart rate when ‘in the vets’ is always somewhat elevated because of excitement or nervousness, so does not represent the real heart rate at home.
The heartbeat can be felt by placing your hand on the chest over the heart, just inside the ‘armpits’ on the left side, but can be either side of the chest. You could purchase a cheap stethoscope and learn to listen to the heart rate. Feeling the pulse in the leg does not always represent the heart rate, as some abnormal or weak heartbeats might not produce a palpable pulse, so we prefer that you do not use this method.
You could purchase a heart rate monitor, and whilst these are a little more expensive, over the course of your pet’s life, often represent good value for money. The rate is given as the number of heartbeats in 1 minute.
Weight
One of the effects of heart failure is the accumulation of excess fluid in the lungs (oedema), chest cavity (pleural fluid) or abdomen (ascites). One litre of fluid is equivalent to 1 kg in weight. Thus monitoring your pet’s body weight is a useful means to track the loss or gain in fluid accumulation.
We recommend weighing your pet weekly. It is often best to use the scales at your own vets for consistency and accuracy.
Appetite
Your pet’s appetite may reflect his/her well-being. It is a simple scoring system, comparing appetite to when your pet was well prior to this illness and is as follows:
Appetite Scores:
1 Ate hardly anything
2 Ate much less than normal
3 Ate a little less than normal
4 Normal
5 Ate very well
Exercise
Once any congestion has resolved with treatment, a return to some exercise is good for the well-being of your pet and for the circulation. The ability to exercise also reflects the ability of the heart to function and circulate blood, so it can be a useful indication of how well your pet is doing. Again this is a simple scoring system, comparing the ability to exercise to when your pet was well prior to this illness and is as follows:
Exercise Scores:
1 Can hardly exercise at all
2 Is exercising much less than normal
3 Is exercising a little less than normal
4 Normal
5 Exercises very well
Cough
Coughing is a common symptom in dogs (it is rare in cats). This can occur for a few reasons. One is that an enlarged heart presses on the windpipe, compressing it and this triggers a cough; it probably feels like something is stuck in the throat. Another is the accumulation of fluid in the lungs (oedema), this needs to be moderately severe to trig, of course,h. Then of course a dog (or cat) can be coughing secondary to various lung conditions such as bronchitis (or asthma in cats). Monitoring the frequency and severity of a cough can therefore be useful.
Cough Scores:
1 Very often, daily
2 Often, daily
3 Often, weekly
4 Occasionally, weekly
5 None
The Happiness Factor
This is a surprisingly useful overall score of how well your pet is. It is a simple scoring system, comparing how happy your pet is compared to when your pet was well, prior to this illness and is as follows:
Happiness Scores:
1 Very unhappy
2 Much less happy than normal
3 A little less happy than normal
4 Happy, back to normal
5 Really happy
