What My Dog’s Heart Disease Taught Me (That I Wish I’d Known Sooner)

When my dog Freya collapsed for the first time, heart disease wasn’t even on my radar. I was looking at her hips. Her age. Maybe the heat. Maybe allergies. Maybe she’d overdone it chasing chipmunks (one of her favorite hobbies). Heart disease honestly wasn’t the diagnosis I expected. She’s almost 10 now, so all of those made sense as possible explanations for why she wasn’t herself on any given day. One very long, in-depth vet visit, complete with X-rays and an ECG, later, I learned otherwise. Within seconds of hearing what had happened, my vet said, “It’s almost definitely her heart.” The x-rays and EKG confirmed that. I also learned that living with a dog who has heart disease isn’t quite what I imagined. Before this, most of what I knew came from articles explaining symptoms, medications, and stages of disease. Those are all important, but they don’t really prepare you for what everyday life looks like. Every dog is different, and this certainly isn’t medical advice. But if you’re just starting this journey with your own dog, here are some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned along the way. FYI, this post does include affiliate links for products and services that I found helpful...