Moranda went to a vet clinic to have her dog, Zoro, checked. This was the second clinic that they went to. They are there for a second opinion since Zoro was diagnosed with a heart murmur.
When Zoro was first diagnosed, she had a score of four out of six for his heart murmur. It has gotten worse. His most recent score was five out of six. Most heart murmurs with a grade of four and below do not necessarily need any treatment.
A score of five and above means that the heart murmur is already life-threatening. It is something that needs to be addressed.
A common cause for a heart murmur is PDA or Patent Ductus Arteriosus. This means that a vessel in the heart fails to close after birth. This can be treated through surgery.
Dr. Lavigne already requested a specialist to come in to run some tests. Dr. Mark Taylor is a mobile sonographer, and he performed Zoro’s sonogram.
The test confirmed that Zoro has PDA and pulmonic stenosis. That’s not the main issue, though. There was a bigger problem. They found out that Zoro was positive for multiple heartworms.
They were not ordinary heartworms. They were adult ones. This means that Zoro has advanced heartworm disease. Zoro is not a good candidate for surgery.
Because of his heartworms, they had to put surgery on hold. They had to treat his heartworms first.
A matured heartworm can live up to seven years. They reproduce within those years inside the heart. This becomes life-threatening when not treated.
Dr. Lavigne’s plan of action would be to make sure that Zoro is cleared from his heartworms. Then they can go ahead and do the surgery to correct his pulmonic stenosis.
Zoro has gone through so much, and the doctor is sure that he will go through this health scare as well. It is a lesson for all pet owners to have their dogs tested regularly for the presence of heartworms.
Source Animal Planet via YouTube
