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My dog has a heart murmur and coughs. Cardalis isn't helping. What can I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Akbash Dog | Male | unneutered | 9 years and 3 months old | 12 lbs

My Japanese Chin 9 years has been diagnosed with a heart murmur stage 3 .Hes on Vetmedin ,Libeo, and recently Cardalis to reduce the persistant coughing.Unfortunately the Cardalis does not seem to be working .Is there an alternative more effective medication available to reduce his coughing?thanks

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 20th, 2020

Poor guy. The coughing is mainly due to fluid bulid up in the lungs. If the coughing has not improved then ask you vet if adjustments can be made to his current medications, in particulra the Libeo (Furosemide), which is designed to pull fluid off the lungs, reducing the cough. He is on all the medications currently recommended for heart failure dogs, so the best thing to do is increase his medications and perhaps get him on a cardiac prescription diet (i.e. Hill's Science Diet H/D). Also understand that heart medication is not curing the disease, it is merely managing it to buy your pet more time. Unfortuantely the medication may reach a point where it is no longer effective when the disease has progressed too far. I do hope that we have not reached that point yet, and perhaps can still make adjustments in Kenzo's medications to help manage his heart disease for a while longer. Here is more information on heart disease --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=8501760 Best of luck moving forward with Kenzo and managing his heart disease. Take care.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 10th, 2017

    Congrats on your new dog! I am sorry, however, that he has a heart murmur. Unfortunately, heart disease isn't curable but the symptoms can be managed with medication. He will have to be on medication for the rest of his life, as he's already showing symptoms of heart disease (coughing, fluid around the heart). Medication will not cure it, just treat the symptoms. As time passes, the symptoms will eventually become worse, but he can be given additional medication to help with those symptoms when the time comes. He still can have a good life with you despite this, and can hopefully have a number of years with you.

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