How to Treat Aortic Stenosis in German Shorthaired Pointers
If your German Shorthaired Pointer shows common signs of aortic stenosis, such as an irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing, fatigue, and fainting, take it to your vet as soon as possible if you haven't already. Aortic stenosis is usually treated by medication, so give your dog any medicine as directed by your vet. However, if your dog's condition is mild, you should be able to control its symptoms with lifestyle changes. Regardless of the severity of your dog's condition, you should avoid pushing it to do strenuous activity, since this can put extra pressure on its heart. If your dog faints or has difficulty breathing, take it to your vet immediately, even if it recovers quickly, since this can be serious.
Get a veterinary diagnosis. Take your German shorthaired pointer to a veterinarian if you are worried about its health. The veterinarian will carefully listen to the heart with a stethoscope and may perform other tests, such as an ultrasound, EKG (electrical) measurements, or radiographs to assess the heart and its electrical activity. Typical signs and symptoms of aortic stenosis can include: Heart murmur Cardiac arrhythmia Enlarged heart and aorta Congestive heart failure Use medication to control the condition. There are three options for treatment for dogs with aortic stenosis. These include the use of medication to control symptoms, balloon valvuloplasty, and open heart surgery to correct the condition. Medications, such as beta-blockers, are used to help the heart muscle relax enough to allow the heart chambers to fill with blood. Atenolol is a commonly used beta blocker used for this condition. In a few cases medications are used to prevent the heart muscle from over building. Consider the option of open-heart surgery. Open-heart surgery may be an option if you live in an area that has a specialized animal hospital that does the procedure. This is done to improve cardiac output function and to control arrhythmias. Open heart surgery is a risky procedure requiring specialized equipment (heart-lung bypass machines) and is a very complex, risky and costly operation. Because of the complexity and risk of this procedure, management with medication is the treatment of choice. Discuss the option of a balloon valvuloplasty with the veterinarian. Balloon valvuloplasty is a less invasive surgical procedure than open heart surgery. However, in dogs it has been found to only have a short-term effect, so therefore it is not routinely recommended. Balloon valvuloplasty and open heart surgery are procedures reserved for cardiac specialists in large teaching or specialty hospitals. Look for signs of fatigue. The symptoms that owners typically report in German shorthaired pointers with aortic stenosis include a variety of signs of fatigue. This is because the heart cannot pump blood well enough to supply the oxygen needed for normal or excessive exertion. Your dog may have a new intolerance for exercise. It may refuse to do activities that it once enjoyed. Your dog may appear to be weak and lethargic. It may have trouble getting up and down or climbing inclines. Be concerned about this condition if your dog faints. Your dog may faint because of a serious case of aortic stenosis. This is more likely to happen when your dog is doing some sort of exercise that requires a lot of oxygen in its system. The fainting is due to a lack of oxygen circulating in its body. If your dog faints you should have it seen by a veterinarian. Call your vet's office, explain the situation, and follow their advice of whether or not to bring the dog in immediately or not. Pay attention to difficulty breathing. It's important to pay attention to your dog's breathing, especially while it is exercising. Signs your dog is having difficulty breathing can include coughing, difficulty catching its breath, or heavy panting. If your German shorthaired pointer is having a hard time breathing from a very light amount of exercise, it could be caused by aortic stenosis. Look for signs early in life. This is not a disease that only affects old dogs. Aortic stenosis can be found early in the life of a German shorthaired pointer, or it may develop around 1-2 years of life. One sign of this disease in puppies is that they have a failure to grow as rapidly as a puppy should. However, the younger the dog is when the signs first appear, the more likely the condition is to be serious. Understand that this condition can simply cause sudden death. In some cases, there are not warning signs that can be observed by a dog's owner. It will just suddenly die due to the aortic stenosis. If this happens to your dog, it is not due to you missing some warning signs you should have seen. It is just, unfortunately, how this disease functions in some cases. Change your dog's activity level. In dogs with mild or moderate aortic stenosis, veterinary treatment is typically not performed. Such cases can usually be controlled with lifestyle changes. Basically, you will need to control your dog's activity level to adjust for its decreased ability to get sufficient oxygen. Dogs with a mild case tend to have a good prognosis and live a generally typical lifespan. However, exercise regimes may need to be curtailed depending on the dog's tolerance to exercise. For example, a German shorthaired pointer that is expected to be a hunting dog may not be able to perform at maximal efficiency. However, it can still engage in some restricted form of hunting sport, as long as its heart health is closely monitored. Monitor the condition. If your dog is diagnosed with aortic stenosis, the dog's heart health will need to be monitored for the rest of its life. Follow your veterinarian's suggestions for when and how often your dog should be brought in for checkups or treatment. If your dog is on medication for its aortic stenosis, then a checkup is important so that its veterinarian can adjust its medication. Getting good veterinary care is key to your German shorthaired pointer living a long and relatively healthy life with aortic stenosis. Take fainting spells and difficulty breathing very seriously. If your dog has been diagnosed with aortic stenosis, even if it is a very mild case that does not require medication, episodes of fainting or difficulty breathing are very serious. Take your dog to its veterinarian immediately if this happens. Even if your dog recovers quickly from difficulty breathing or a fainting spell, it still needs to be seen by a veterinarian immediately. 
Get a veterinary diagnosis. Use medication to control the condition. Consider the option of open-heart surgery. Discuss the option of a balloon valvuloplasty with the veterinarian. Look for signs of fatigue. Be concerned about this condition if your dog faints. Pay attention to difficulty breathing. Look for signs early in life. Understand that this condition can simply cause sudden death. Change your dog's activity level. Monitor the condition. Take fainting spells and difficulty breathing very seriously. 