[lgslgs]

We have the necropsy results. No sign of SAS or of a septal defect.

Luther died because he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The walls of the ventricles of his heart were at least double the thickness that they should have been, shrinking the pumping chamber to the point where each heart beat could only pump at significantly diminished capacity.

This is different than what the heart sonogram led us to believe, and that will be valuable feedback for the vet that did those as it indicates that the equipment she has at her practice will likely have very limited use in diagnosis of canine heart defects. We knew that the diagnosis from those images was not definitive, and that vet will welcome the new information and necropsy photos to add to her knowledge about the diagnostic limits of the sonogram equipment she has available. Just in case it was not clear here, spay/neuter and necropsy were done by our primary small animal vet, free heart sonograms were done by our primary large animal vet. Different people in different practices, with different access to diagnostic equipment.


We have necropsy photos of the heart walls and once we get our bearings here I may start a thread in the vet section for folks who may be interested. The necropsy was a sad thing to have done, and the pictures of little Luther's heart were sad to view, but the info is important for both vets, the breeder, and also for us.

With heart walls so thick, and chambers so tiny, Luther was destined to be a "short timer" in this world. He was here in our home for only about 100 days, but will be a part of our lives forever.

Georgia Rae is home and everything seems fine. She's on restricted duty for the next two weeks until her sutures are removed. We don't know what to expect her lifespan to be, but know that she could have a surprise sudden Luther-style ending. Until then, though, there are butterflies for her to look at, flowers for her to sniff, and all sorts of puppy/young dog things on her work list. :)

Thanks again to all of you for your support through this very sad day.

Lynda