Early Chest X-rays

[goldens]

I learned a couple of years ago that chest xrays taken early can be very important to your dog. I decided to have a chest x-ray taken of my golden retriever a couple of years ago when I had her geriatric physical done. No real reason a her full blood panel was great, her heart and lungs sounded perfect.

But the x-ray showed an enlarged heart chamber. In fact it was so enlarged her esophagus actually "humped" oner it rather than going straight down. My vet was totally surprised that she had this condition as there was no sign of it. He put her on a very low dose blood pressure med each day----same one hubby takes, only 1/4 of the dose of hubby's....and a baby asprin every other day. I had thought she had a lot of energy for a 7 year old who had had both knees operated on, but after a couple of weeks on the BP tab and asprin, she had even more energy.

it is really a good idea to get chest x-rays taken at an early age to find something like this. Knowinf there is a problem with heart or lungs can determine what is used and how muvh is used when the dog needs to be put under for surgery, dental, etc. I also went ahead and had 5 year vold Honet'sa chest x-rayed and hers is perfect.