Do dogs & cats have heart attacks?

[rdcl]

I'm serious. When was the last time anyone witnessed their pet .......an older pet perhaps.......playing, running or simply walking across the living room in seemingly great health and then suddenly falling over dead......instantly of a heart attack?

In my entire life I've never heard a single instance where someone stated something to the effect:

" Yeah, my setter was out in the yard wagging it's tail happy as can be and then suddenly BOOM! Fell over dead!"

While everyone knows that animals can suffer health problems very similar to humans....I can only assume that dogs & cats don't suffer heart aliments similar to humans.

Russ

 

[MrSwede]

I think they do. Animals often feel that something isnt right and walk to the side and lay down befor the get sick. But even heartstops happens and they die on the spot when playing.

 

[CW Spook]

Our first Dachshund died just that way, an apparent sudden heart attack.

 

[M3Stuart]

I'm thinking; well, if they have hearts, then they have heart attacks. After all, they eat stuff with fat in it.

 

[Lee Barner]

my Jill, a yellow lab had a heart attack one night in the yard. she didn't come back from doing her business. when I found her she was just laying there. I brought her in and laid with her on the floor all night. the vet did an EKG and said she had had three heart attacks and there was nothing they could do. I wasn't worth wadding up and throwing away for days. lee

 

[Oldiron]

Yes they can. Had a puppy about 9 months old come running in the house one afternoon several years back and collapsed and died. The vet had said he had a murmur but should out grow it. Just lost my huge (big not fat, panther looking) kitty to what was apparently afib. He was fine and then we noticed him not being able to walk with his hind legs. My DIL is a vet tech and thought it may have been a clot. My Wife and DIL took him to the office to confirm the clot and he had another one get loose and he died in my DIL's arms. So yes they can die suddenly from heart problems.
Larry

 

[LVSteve]

My dad was looking out the window one day and saw a sparrow simply fold up its wings in midair and auger in.

I also believe that pets can have strokes. One of my parakeets had some kind of episode and I thought she was a goner. She lasted another few months as I recall.

 

[rdcl]

Hmm. I guess they can then. Thanks for your responses. It's just that I never ever heard an instance of anyone I know having their pet suddenly fall over dead......and I know and have known lots of people with dogs & cats.

I'd always assumed animals.....dogs in particular....had much healthier (stronger) hearts than humans. (consider how fast a dog can run, for example).

Again, I thank you for your responses. Just something I wondered about.


Russ

 

[Bruce51]

I would swear I saw my cat have a stroke right in front of me.

Went to the vet, but the cat seemed to recover and lived a few more years.

Better a heart attack than the slow death from kidney failure or cancer.

Bruce

 

[BUFF]

My ex-wife's cockatiel Peaches was about 25 years old and healthy. One evening, she just fell off of the top perch in her cage, and was dead right there. I figured it was her heart.

I still miss that bird...

 

[427mach1]

Our little terrier was about 16 years old. Late one night/early morning, he was obviously not feeling well and while we were trying to make him comfortable, he let out a "yowl", obviously of great pain. After that, he could barely move. I took him to the vet in the morning and they said he was minutes away from dying, his heart was VERY weak and he had probably suffered a heart attack. Even though he probably would only last a matter of minutes, the vet went ahead and put him down. One of the hardest things I have had to do......

 

[vito]

Pets can suffer many of the ailments that afflict humans. I had a wonderful Golden Retriever who had a stroke, and lost her sight in one eye and partial control of one side of her body. I had a cat who died of oral cancer. Another Golden Retriever of mine died of cancer, lymphoid sarcoma. Since they can't talk to us, they often just suffer in silence while we wonder what is wrong with them. And with my latest pet, a now almost 12 year old Standard Poodle, I think he has Alzheimer's or the dog equivalent. He was the smartest dog I have ever met, who seemed to be able to actually plan ahead for what he wanted to do (such as not grabbing the pizza off the coffee table, until he heard the slider door open from the kitchen to the deck, then stood up, and grabbed the pizza and ran out the open door). Now he seems to forget how to come through an open doorway, and ignores a rabbit sitting in the yard just 10 feet from him. Unfortunately, our beloved animals suffer just as we do.

 

[Iggy]

I had a Sheltie die in my arms while riding in a car. Young and healthy and happy and gone in a couple of minutes.

 

[BearBio]

Dogs and cats are "designed" for a meat diet (mostly). They handle fats and cholesterol differently. But they can get strokes, I know. Don't know of any biological reason plaque couldn't build up in the heart, also.

 

[BaaBaa]

We've had sheep die from heart attacks, verified on pm by vet. Since then I've done a few pm's on dead sheep and have a couple I believe were heart attack deaths as well.

 

[jaykellogg]

I had a 5 year old 14 pound neutered male cat die of heart failure (not a heart attack). His heart became enlarged and crowded out his lungs. The vet put him on lasix and he snapped back for about three months and the symptoms (not getting enough breath) started and he went into convulsions in the hall and died. I spent a lot of money to extend his life about three months, I will never do that again.

My neighbor told me of having a dog that had an apparent stroke. The dog wouldn't (couldn't) eat. He said he sat on the floor and put dog food into the dog's mouth and stroked the throat to teach it to eat. It worked and the dog recovered and lived a while longer.

One of the biggest killers of our pets is cancer.

However it happens it is very traumatic to lose a friend who loves you unconditionally.

 

[Comrad]

I have a Yorkie on heart medication, man I must really love that old dog to keep paying for those pills, they ain't cheap.

 

[jaykellogg]

I have a Yorkie on heart medication, man I must really love that old dog to keep paying for those pills, they ain't cheap.

I am sure you do love the dog.

One of the hardest decisions we make as pet owners is to decide when a pet has lived out his time. As I said in an earlier post I made that decision once with my heart and I have regretted it ever since. It doesn't really have anything to do with the expense, if a pet is suffering, they need you to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.

Thank heavens we don't have to make these decisions for human loved ones.

 

[vigil617]

Death should be dignified if at all possible, I think. When those we love -- pet or human -- do not have the ability to choose for themselves how their end will come, I think we as their caretakers owe it to them to make their last hours as comfortable as possible, if the end is inevitable.

It sure helps, for humans, if there is a "do not resuscitate" order in place that the patient has signed while still mentally able to do so. It relieves such a lot of stress on the family, and fortunately our medical professionals know how to take care of a person in these situations so that death can be embraced instead of fought.

We as pet owners should consider the same for our animals, agreeing among caregivers what will be in the best interest of our pet when the time comes, so that we are not faced with that decision while we are grieving the creature's impending passing. There are ways to keep animals living, but that doesn't mean that they're having a life.

 

[calmex]

If they go to Italy, they can have a heart attack. Nobody knows why as yet.