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In this post you’ll learn about DCM (Dilated Cardiomyopathy), risk factors, signs and symptoms, prognosis, testing, cost and additional research on DCM, with a special focus on Doberman and other dog breeds.

1. What is DCM?
2. Risk Factors
3. What are the first signs you should look out for?
4. Prognosis
   1. Asymptomatic dogs
   2. Symptomatic dogs
5. Prevention is better than cure – get tested
   1. Genetic Tests
   2. Screening tests
6. Cost for diagnosis
7. What’s next post diagnosis?
8. Hope for the future

Hello Otterific Readers! Today I want to share with you all some thoughts about one of my favorites, a beautiful breed of our canine friends – Doberman.

Out of the door, I want to be honest with you – I have never owned a Doberman myself but I have had many opportunities over the years to interact with this beautiful and loyal breed in my extended family. There are many stories in my family – some sad mostly happy ones. Today’s blog though is about a sad one.

Recently, like many us on social media, I started following a very popular Dobbie girl and fell in love with her graceful beauty and high intelligence to follow her owner’s command. Even without meeting her in reality, she has become a part of our family. I thoroughly enjoy her posts and it cheers me up anytime I’m having a dull day.

One morning, as I was setting up my home workspace getting ready for the daily grind, I got a notification that Dobbie girl has sadly passed away. The reason seemed to be DCM. She was just 8 years old, well within the average lifespan of a Doberman.

Like millions of her followers, I was shocked and sad.

Today, I want to talk a little bit about DCM, and shed some light on to the condition. While I never wish this upon your cutie, but I hope that through general awareness DCM we can catch the signs and symptoms of DCM early enough.

What is DCM?

DCM is an abbreviation of Dilated Cardiomyopathy. It accounts for ~10% of all heart diseases.

Simply put, DCM is a condition of a dog’s heart muscle and results in an enlarged heart. As the heart and its chambers become dilated, it becomes harder for the heart to pump, and heart valves may start to leak. Eventually, this can lead to a buildup of fluids in the chest and abdomen (congestive heart failure).

Credit: FDA

While there are many theories on the root cause, the true reason has not been fully identified. Generally, an underlying, inherited genetic component is believed to exist in most cases. More research is required.

Risk Factors

Since there’s no root cause identified, it is hard to fully cover all aspects of the risk factors. However, based on existing research, these are considered to be the most common risk factors:

• Doberman Pinscher, Cocker Spaniels, Boxers, Great Danes are considered high risk breeds for DCM
• Genetic factors – DCM1 and/or DCM2 variations (see details below on how to get tested)
• Older dogs, generally > 4 years old
• Heavy dogs ( > 30 pounds or 13.6 kgs)
• Nutritional deficiencies, probably a rare cause

Credit: FDA

What are the first signs you should look out for?

So how do you detect DCM? There are some tell-tale signs of DCM you can keep an eye out for. Remember, this is not a medical advice. If you have a feeling that your pet is behaving abnormally or they are sick, always seek professional help.

Listed below are some of the common signs you can watch out for.

Note: The signs and symptoms below are commonly seen in the Doberman Pinscher breed. This information might still be helpful for all Dobbie parents.

• Breathing issues might be one of the first things you notice:
  • Rapid breathing when resting or sleeping (more than 30-35 breaths per minute)
  • Labored breathing, increased effort associated with breathing
    
• Sleeping issues:
  • Restless sleep; moving around a lot during sleep or changing positions frequently
    
• General health symptoms:
  • Coughs or continuous gagging reactions
  • Collapse or fainting
  • Decreased appetite, leading to weight loss
  • Distended belly
    
• Lack of energy is another sign you might notice since Dobermans tend to be highly energetic and hardy. Sudden lack of energy might surface as
  • General weakness
  • Reduced ability to exercise
  • Depressed attitude, quite or not interactive

Prognosis

Unfortunately, there’s no cure for DCM of any type. There are multiple researches ongoing.

Asymptomatic dogs

Dogs that have developed DCM but are not showing symptoms yet (aka asymptomatic) can live on an average for 1-3 years before they become symptomatic or show clinical signs of heart failure.

Unfortunately, some might die suddenly due to the underlying cause without ever showing obvious symptoms strong enough to be taken to a vet. Thankfully, if it’s of any solace, sudden heart failures are likely painless.

It is difficult to predict the course of the disease for an individual dog, instead tests (see below for details) and regular veterinarian appointments for positive dogs are the way to go.

Symptomatic dogs

If your Dobbie is showing one or many clinical signs of DCM (some have been discussed above, but your Vet will be able to properly diagnose more), medications can manage the severity of the symptoms.

The disease unfortunately will continue to progress internally and could result in sudden deaths via heart failure. This also is likely painless for your canine love. Even erratic heart beat is not considered by doctors to be painful.

The best course of action is to talk to your Vet and get your Dobbie on a medication regime. Your Vet can also manage the dosage or change medicines to manage the condition better Once your dog develops clinical signs of DCM, medications can typically eliminate the severity. If manageable, many dogs can continue to live for another 6-12 months from symptomatic diagnosis.

While in humans heart transplant is an option, unfortunately it’s not an option for pets.

Prevention is better than cure – get tested

If it’s not preventable and there is no cure, what can you do as a pet owner?

Like with humans, it is always better to know what you might expect within the lifespan of your Dobbie. One of the ways to do it is to get your canine tested for variations in their genes.

Genetic Tests

There are two variations of mutations commonly associated with DCM

• DCM1 = dilated cardiomyopathy 1 variant present
• DCM2 = dilated cardiomyopathy 2 variant present

It is important to note here that not all Doberman Pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy have either of these two mutations. Therefore, it is likely that additional mutations are yet to be identified.

There could also be additional genes that are involved in disease presentation and progression. Continued research is needed to identify additional genetic and non-genetic risk factors.

Screening tests

In addition to genetic tests, there are some screening tests you can perform at your Vet. This is especially important for non-high risk breeds, like Doberman and Boxer, where the genetic variations might not be pronounced or unavailable.

Genetic tests can be combined with screening tests.

• Heart Tests
  • Echocardiogram-ultrasound of the heart
  • Holter recorder-24 hr ECG that your dog wears home to detect abnormal
    heart beats
  • ECG-3 minute evaluation that is done in the hospital to detect abnormal
    heart beats
  • NT-proBNP-might be used in Dobermans to help determine if your
    Doberman should have an echocardiogram
• Fluid tests
  • Blood tests
  • Urine tests to evaluate kidney function
  • Thyroid tests
  • Blood pressure

Always, and we can’t stress this enough, when in doubt always seek professional help and advice immediately. Even a simple call to your Vet to brainstorm is recommended.

Cost for diagnosis

While probably not the top of your mind, it is important to understand the expenses. The test normally lies around $55 for each variant. There could be special packages which can combine both tests at lower cost as per Vet’s price chart. If you have multiple dogs, you could also get a bulk discount at your Vet.

For screening tests, your Vet will have their charts. These are standard tests and you can shop around to see which Vet office or clinic is giving you the tests you like at a price point you like.

What’s next post diagnosis?

Your Vet will likely provide a list of items you can follow to keep your canine friend as healthy as possible, for as long as possible.

Based on our crowd sourced survey, there are some common things that pet owners claim can help:

• Move to a special diet – There are many heart-specific, heart-healthy diets you can follow. Mostly these diets restrict salt. Note that strongly salt restricted diets are never recommended for asymptomatic dogs.
• Vet recommended supplements
• Exercise should be allowed, but keep a watch on performance and react accordingly. Be particularly careful with sustained physically strenuous activities like playing fetch, swimming etc. Keep an eye out for the weather.

Hope for the future

There are a lot of studies and research being conducted across the world, including stem cell treatments and gene therapy. They are all still nascent. With cheers to all the Dobermans and high risk breeds, here’s hoping we hear good news with ongoing research about a cure.

That is all for today. Have a wonderful time with these extra special furry friends and pile up the precious moments. Below I’ve added a whole lot of links you can read up to learn more.

Bow-wow folks! 🙂

FDA

Here are some highlights from a deep research conducted by US FDA.

Mean Age and Weight – DCM Cases in Dogs Reported to FDA-CVM

Dogs	Mean	Range
Age (years)	6.6	0.4-16
Weight	67.8 lbs 30.8 kgs	4-212

Mean Age and Weight – DCM Cases in Cats Reported to FDA-CVM

Cats	Mean	Range
Age (years)	6	0.4-17
Weight	10.7 lbs 4.9 kgs	7-13

Sex of DCM cases reported to FDA-CVM by species (%)

Sex (% of cases)	Male	Female
Dogs	58.7	41.3
Cats	62.5	37.5

Diet Information from Reported Cases [Source]

Dog food brands named most frequently in DCM cases reported to FDA [Source]

Ingredients or characteristics of reported diets (%) 1/1/14 – 4/30/19 [Source]

Animal proteins in diets reported to FDA (number of times reported) 1/1/14 – 4/30/19 [Source]

Additional references to learn more

• FDA investigation into potential link between certain diets and DCM
  • Questions & Answers: FDA’s Work on Potential Causes of Non-Hereditary DCM in Dogs
  • Questions & Answers: FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine’s Investigation into a Possible Connection Between Diet and Canine Heart Disease (updated June 27, 2019)
  • Vet-LIRN Update (June 2019)
  • FDA Provides Third Status Report on Investigation into Potential Connection Between Certain Diets and Cases of Canine Heart Disease (June 2019)
  • FDA Provides Update on Investigation into Potential Connection Between Diet and Cases of Canine Heart Disease (February 2019)
  • FDA Investigating Potential Connection Between Diet and Cases of Canine Heart Disease (July 2018)
  • Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association – Diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs: what do we know? (December 2018)
  • FDA Investigation into Potential Link between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy February 2019 Update
• Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital – Texas A&M University
• Cornell Richard P. Riney Canine Health Center
• Schwarzman Animal Medial Center
• University of Pennsylvania