1166. Follow up on heart attack obese Tibetan Spaniel

Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 7 pm, I phoned the owner as to the status of the panting of her 3-year-old Tibetan Spaniel weighing 13 kg and on heart medication.

She said: "He pants a little. But yesterday night, he slept well. Today he does not want to eat much. Usually he is very greedy. I tried feeding him the H/D diet but he would have none of it. "

"It is expected as the H/D diet cannot be appetitising to him, " I said. "Just give 5% and mix with his usual chicken meat less fat."

"I gave him the dog treats which I had bought a lot," she did not heed my advice not to feed the red and green coloured rectangular pieces of dog treats as they might be the cause of bacterial infection in her dog. The total white cell count during the emergency and my treatment were very high, indicating a bacterial infection. A serious type of bacterial infection that cause continuous panting and heart attack on Friday evening and only on Tuesday morning was the dog back to normal breathing. But it is hard for the owner as the dog did not eat at all.

If the dog does not eat much, the owner is worried. The dog is recovering from a major infection and so may not have appetite. But it is best not to feed the processed dog treats as the quality is unknown. Many dog owners are not that wel educated on this aspect.