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ToDAy'S VETERINARy PRACTICE HEART FAILuRE IN DoGS: 6 PRACTICAL TIPS FRoM CARDIoLoGISTS Peer Reviewed 29 Success is often measured by quality of life as well as duration of survival after diagnosis. With good management, many dogs with progressive heart failure can have a good quality of life as well as improved survival times. 6. Establish a Relationship with a Local Cardiologist Consider referral to a cardiologist, when available. Clinical evaluation by a cardiologist can be benefcial to establish the diagnosis, develop a comprehensive treatment and re-evaluation plan, fne-tune therapy, and keep up with current guidelines, especially when the diagnosis is diffcult or therapy ineffective. Guidelines for the staging, diagnosis, and management of degenerative valve disease were established by a committee of cardiologists and published by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2009 (see Suggested Reading ). Additional information from clinical trials continues to become available. ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme; CHF = congestive heart failure; DCM = dilated cardiomyopathy; DMVD = degenerative mitral valve disease Disclosure Statement Drs. Saunders and Gordon have received research funding and programmatic support from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (makers of pimobendan) and IDEXX Laboratories. Suggested Reading Atkins C, Bonagura J, Ettinger S, et al. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of canine chronic valvular heart disease. J Vet Intern Med 2009; 23:1142-1150. Borgarelli M, Buchanan JW. Historical review, epidemiology and natural history of degenerative mitral valve disease. J Vet Cardiol 2012; 14:93-101. Borgarelli M, Crosara S, Lamb K, et al. Survival characteristics and prognostic variables of dogs with clinical chronic degenerative mitral valve disease attributable to myxomatous degeneration. J Vet Intern Med 2012; 26:69-75. Borgarelli M, Haggstrom J. Canine degenerative myxomatous mitral valve disease: Natural history, clinical presentation and therapy. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 2010; 40:651- 663. Chiavegato D, Borgarelli M, D'Agnolo G, Santilli RA. Pulmonary hypertension in dogs with mitral regurgitation attributable to myxomatous valve disease. Vet Radiol Ultra 2009; 50:253- 258. Wess G, Schulze A, Butz V, et al. Prevalence of dilated cardiomyopathy in Doberman Pinschers in various age groups. J Vet Intern Med 2010; 24:533-538. ASHLEy B. SAuNDERS Ashley B. Saunders, DVM, Diplomate ACVIM (Cardiology), is an associate professor of cardiology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M; Uni - versity College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Her interests include interventional cardiology and advanced imaging, heart failure management, and educational technology. She is the recip - ient of multiple teaching awards and is a Montague Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar. SONyA G. GORDON Sonya G. Gordon, DVM, DVSc, Diplomate ACVIM (Cardiology), is an associate pro - fessor of cardiology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M; University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She is routinely invited to speak at local, national, and international veterinary meetings. She has published numerous manuscripts and book chapters, and recently coauthored a practical small animal clinical cardiol - ogy book, The ABCDs of Small Animal Cardiology.