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My dog has a heart murmur and swollen belly. Will meds work?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Miniature Schnauzer | Female | spayed | 10 years and 3 months old | 24.692 lbs

Hi my dog has been to the vets they said she has a heart murmur and her belly is all swollen and filled with water I just want to know if she can pull through this because I can’t stand the thought of losing my dog. they have give her tablets will she pull through this? we have got to go back to the vets on Friday to see if they have worked or if she has to be put down please help !!

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Chad Brown, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 10th, 2018

I am so sorry to hear about what is happening with your pet. If your dogs diagnosis is congestive heart failure, then the usual pills that the vet will place a dog on our furosemide and enalapril. And if the correct diagnosis is congestive heart failure, then these pills do a very good job of controlling the clinical symptoms associated with this disease. However, there are many different heart diseases that a schnauzer can get. Some of these are mitral valve disease, heartworm disease, etc. The only true way to diagnose the disease is to have a set of x-rays as well as an echocardiogram which is a heart ultrasound. The good news and what you have going in your favor is that the most common disease in a miniature Snells or is congestive heart failure. And if this is the case, the pills that I assume you are on will most likely be able to keep her around for quite a while. I cannot give a prognosis as to how long, but your odds are pretty good that we are going to survive for a period of months to years. Thank you for reaching out to us. I hope I have helped.

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