An 8-year-old Pom vomits phlegm and swallows it for the last 1 week.

Female spayed, 8-year-old Pom

"Vomits phlegm for the last 1 week," my regular client said. "Especially when she sleeps in the air conditioned room. If we stopped her from going in, she would scratch the door to be let in."
"Does she vomit after eating food?" I asked.
"No," he replied. "She had lost appetite and has soft stools for the past one week."



Sounds like a case of gastroenteritis? This seems to be a case of heart disease. The symptom was a nocturnal cough.

HEART EXAMINATION.
Surprisingly I could not hear the heart sounds on the right chest. I spent some time auscultating but no sounds. All the dogs do have heart sounds on the right chest.

On the left chest, I could hear a machinery murmur.
"Your dog has heart disease," I advised chest X-rays. "The abdomen is empty of intestinal sounds, no internal tumours of the liver or spleen. There is some gas and the dog did react very mildly in pain to abdominal palpation.  This is not a case of gastroenteritis or gastritis."

"She vomits phlegm overnight and being a clean dog, she swallows it. So the bedroom floor is clean."   





X RAYS
Abnormally large left side of the heart on the ventro-dorsal view. Very rarely do I see such a large left heart. See x-rays.

Lower 2 X-rays show a young Pom with heart disease. With heart drugs, diet and close monitoring, the Pom lived for around one year.  

DIAGNOSIS
Cardiomegaly - Left heart enlargement.  Heart drugs must be given daily to extend the life of this Pom. Dosage is given to effect and at proper timing. Some owners forget to give the drugs leading to severe coughing.