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Resting Respiratory Rate - Home-monitoring of Dogs and Cats With Heart Disease
Medical FAQs
This FAQ will help you teach your clients to use Resting Respiratory Rate for home-monitoring of heart failure.
Resting Respiratory Rate
Owner participation in assessing and recording of Resting Respiratory Rate is:
- Probably the most sensitive indicator of developing pulmonary edema or pleural effusion in dogs and cats.
- A very useful home-monitoring technique for owners to perform.
- Used once a diagnosis of CHF has been made (and is now controlled), or where substantial heart disease exists and is likely to result in CHF at some future stage.
In addition to being a great home monitoring aid, involving the owner in this process helps overcome the "need to do something" that many owners and veterinarians exhibit when dealing with heart disease.
Have the owner record the resting respiratory rate and character on their pet (number of breaths/min). The recording should be done when the animal is comfortably resting or asleep, in a thermo-neutral environment (ie, not too cold, not too hot). This should be repeated daily for 2-3 days (to get a baseline variation), and then once or twice weekly.
If the RRR changes substantially between measurements, the owner should then measure daily to confirm the change, or to document a trend. If a trend is documented, the owner should contact the veterinarian for further evaluation.
Normal RRR in dogs and cats is <30 breaths/min, often in the high-teens or low 20s. Consistent RRR >30 breaths/min in patients with underlying heart disease is strongly suggestive of developing CHF. However, primary respiratory disease with concurrent subclinical heart disease needs to be ruled out.
What else should owners look for?
Cats often have very subtle changes in demeanor or respiration prior to fulminant CHF.
Changes in appetite or activity or loss of weight in cats with known heart disease are often warning signs that CHF is imminent.
Coughing is a variable finding in CHF in dogs, and is not a feature of CHF in cats.
What do I do if RRR is high?
If RRR is elevated, thoracic radiographs and physical examination should be performed. If there is no clear evidence of CHF, a short diuretic trial can be employed (lasix @ 2mg/kg BID for 3-4 days). A reduction in the RRR to baseline with therapy further supports mild CHF.
Presence of sinus arrhythmia or sinus bradycardia is inconsistent with a diagnosis of CHF - nearly all animals with CHF will have sinus tachycardia.
Associate and Books
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Date Created: 7/28/05
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Date Last Updated: 8/1/05
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