I have a 12 year old Pekinese that is appr. 12 lbs. I was told he may need to go on enalopril but should have an EKG and bloodwork. I had bloodwork done 6 months ago and everything was OK. I don't want to subject him to this again. My question is, can I give him enalapril anyway? Would that potentially be harmful?
Veteran Advisor Angela Spar says:
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:50 PM
hi there,
sorry to hear of your dogs problems.
The gold standard way in a perfect world is to do the blood work along with the ekg before starting meds and then probably repeat the bloods again in a few weeks. THis is to make sure that the kidneys are doing OK along with the other organs.
I know he had bloods done 6 months ago, but things change in even a few weeks. I take it he didn't have a condition 6 months ago that warranted starting meds but now he does. So organ function may well have changed too.
THe chances are he would be fine starting the enalpril anyway but it is always good to have a basline immediately before starting any long term med. In my clinic I usually suggest too that any patient on a medication long term gets blood work checked every 6 months. This has proved very beneficial to many patients.
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User says:
February 23rd, 2008 at 01:10 AM
Thank you for your response. I was told that his heart is slightly enlarged on a scale of 1-5 a 1. So I can assume that it is NOT harmful to just put him on the enalapril. WHat benefit does this med give to a small dog? What does a typical EKG cost with bloodwork high/low?
Veteran Advisor Angela Spar says:
February 23rd, 2008 at 04:06 AM
Enalapril can sometimes adversely affect renal function, so some docs want to make sure everything is ok before and during therapy and know if its the drug causing any issues not another new problem starting. I personally have never had a problem with it, and still use it even if patients have renal disease but maybe at a lower dose ( it is often used for therapy of kidney diease!) as the benefits outweigh the risks.
The following is an extract from plumbs veterinary drug handbook......
"Recent studies have demonstrated that enalapril, particularly when used in conjunction with furosemide does improve the quality of life in dogs with heart failure. It is not clear however, whether it has any significant effect on survival times. It may also be of benefit in treating the effects associated with valvular heart disease (mitral regurgitation)"
EKG's are low cost but the blood work depending on how comprehensive the profile is could be higher cost.
In our area (NY) I would expect about approx $160
good luck with him
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