Objective: To describe the historical, clinical, and echocardiographic findings in Dalmatians with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
Design: Retrospective case series.
Sample population: 9 Dalmatians with a diagnosis of DCM and congestive heart failure (CHF), 9 Doberman Pinschers with DCM and CHF, and 9 dogs of other breeds with DCM and CHF.
Procedure: Disease history; signalment; physical, radiographic, and echocardiographic examination findings; treatment; and outcome from medical records were analyzed.
Results: All Dalmatians were male, with a mean age of 6.8 years. Eight dogs had been fed a commercially available low-protein diet formulated for the prevention of urate uroliths. All dogs had clinical signs consistent with left-sided CHF and had marked left ventricular systolic dysfunction and severe left ventricular dilatation, although arrhythmias were not an important finding in this series of dogs. Median duration of survival was 10 months.
Clinical implications: The DCM syndrome in Dalmatians has some qualities that are distinct from DCM in other breeds of dogs.