Veterinarians and Pet Owners Working Together: Why Your Observations Matter

Collaboration between a veterinarian and a pet owner can be far more important in resolving an animal’s health problems than it may first appear. The past few weeks with Faddy have shown me very clearly that the best care does not happen only in the clinic. A veterinarian has medical knowledge, diagnostic tools and experience, while an owner has something that cannot be gained during a single appointment: daily, and often years-long, knowledge of their dog.

I know how Faddy normally eats, sleeps, moves, breathes, urinates and defecates, how he behaves on walks and how quickly he tires. And I know when he simply wants to sniff and when stopping is unusual for him. I also know that something has changed if a dog who normally runs along the fence after cyclists no longer does so. In the same way, I notice when he starts doing it again.

Faddy’s case reminded me once again how important it is to know your dog’s normal condition and to carry out regular health checks at home. That makes it easier to notice when something begins to change, and this kind of information can be extremely valuable to a veterinarian.

Faddy’s medical story: when a dog’s symptoms do not give one clear answer

Faddy’s health problems did not begin with one specific symptom. Over roughly two weeks, he ate progressively less, his abdomen became larger, his stools softened and he repeatedly felt the urge to defecate during walks. At the same time, he lost weight very quickly. His usual weight was around 46 kg, but during the illness it fell to 37.1 kg.

The most important change was the enlargement of his abdomen. We went to the clinic on 3 August, where an ultrasound revealed a large amount of fluid in the abdominal cavity. Around 2.5 litres of pale reddish fluid was removed, although some remained. The ultrasound initially raised suspicion of a heart problem and right-sided heart failure, but we did not have a diagnosis.

Faddy has not yet had an echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart, and his first cardiology appointment is not until September. Throughout this period, we have therefore had to work with symptoms, blood-test results, his response to treatment and his everyday behaviour, without yet knowing exactly what happened to his heart or why.

For me, this is precisely where collaboration between the owner and veterinarian becomes especially important. When there is no black-and-white diagnosis yet, every piece of information needs attention.

What can a dog’s blood tests show during treatment?

Faddy’s first blood test showed mild anaemia, low albumin and an ALT level of 759; ALT is one of the markers that may indicate liver injury. His monocyte count was also elevated. Two weeks later, the picture looked very different. His red blood cell count, haematocrit and haemoglobin had returned to normal. Albumin had risen from 21 to 28, monocytes were back within the reference range, and ALT had fallen from 759 to 382. ALT was still too high, but the direction of change was very clear.

These results do not automatically tell us the cause of the illness, but they provide valuable information about what is happening in the body during treatment.

Why are an owner’s earlier observations important to the veterinarian?

One thing the veterinarian could not have known from Faddy’s current medical presentation without my observations was that problems suggesting inflammation had been present much earlier.

For around a year and a half, Faddy had experienced a recurring skin problem in the groin area. The lower parts of his hind legs had also been thicker than usual since at least November 2024. This could be seen in old photographs taken when Faddy himself appeared completely healthy. At one point, one of his hind legs even produced a sticky discharge that resembled the discharge from the skin lesion in his groin. These details became particularly interesting to me when Faddy was prescribed Clavaseptin, an antibiotic.

The antibiotic was initially prescribed partly because his abdominal cavity had been punctured to remove fluid. During treatment, however, his long-standing groin problem began to improve significantly, while the previously thickened legs also appeared to become smaller.

Does this prove that Faddy’s entire illness began with chronic bacterial inflammation? No. It was, however, important enough to discuss with the veterinarian. Working together, we decided to extend the antibiotic course and observe how his skin, legs and the rest of his body responded.

This is where I believe the owner’s role is invaluable. A veterinarian can see the dog today. The owner can say, ‘That leg already looked like this two years ago.’

Can inflammation affect a dog’s heart?

One possibility we have discussed is inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis. We do not currently know whether Faddy has or has had myocarditis. Nor do we know whether the heart problem is primary or the result of another process elsewhere in the body.

What matters to me is that I can raise questions like these with Faddy’s veterinarian and discuss them together. Good collaboration does not mean that the veterinarian must agree with every hypothesis I suggest. Quite the opposite: I am perfectly comfortable when she says that an idea is unlikely and explains why. It is equally important, however, that a question is not dismissed simply because it came from the owner.

Adjusting a dog’s treatment plan together with the veterinarian

Faddy’s treatment has also confirmed very clearly for me that care does not always mean prescribing one dose and keeping it unchanged until the next check-up.

Among other medicines, Faddy received furosemide to reduce fluid retention and the workload on his heart. The initial dose was higher. When his condition improved and his abdomen stopped enlarging, we reduced the furosemide dose together with the veterinarian. Her instruction was very specific: if the abdomen began to enlarge again, we should return to the previous dose.

One change became visible at home very quickly after the furosemide was reduced: Faddy no longer needed to go outside to urinate during the night. Over the past few nights, he has slept peacefully all the way through. This is not something a veterinarian can measure in the clinic. It is information from home that I can add when we assess the outcome of treatment.

Vetmedin and monitoring a dog’s exercise tolerance

The situation became even more interesting with Vetmedin, or pimobendan. Vetmedin was added to Faddy’s treatment plan to support his heart. Initially, he received a total of 20 mg per day. After starting the medicine, however, he had two very unpleasant episodes during walks in which he seemed to sink or collapse. Because this had not happened before he began Vetmedin, we wondered whether the higher dose might affect his heart rhythm or exercise tolerance.

This does not mean that the medicine caused the episodes. The timing was nevertheless important enough not to ignore. I discussed it with Faddy’s veterinarian, and together we reduced his daily Vetmedin dose from 20 mg to 10 mg. This was not a decision to stop treatment. On the contrary, the aim was to find the dose that suited Faddy as well as possible, giving his heart the support it needed without the unwanted episodes recurring.

We had also discussed the option of moving to an intermediate dose of 15 mg if 10 mg proved insufficient.

For now, Faddy himself has given us valuable information. Since the dose was reduced, there have been walks on which he covered 3.5 km without sitting down or collapsing once. One evening he walked 3.93 km, and on another occasion 2.54 km, without a single break. On his most recent walk, his pace even increased as he went: the first kilometre took 15:53 min/km and the second 12:50 min/km.

My goal is not to turn Faddy into an athlete. The intensity is low and he sets the pace himself. If he wants to sniff, he sniffs. However, if he wants to rest, he rests. If he wants to go home, we go home.

That is exactly why his spontaneous behaviour provides such valuable information. When a dog no longer wants to turn for home, once again runs along the fence after a cyclist and completes his normal walk without needing to sit down, this tells me more about how he feels than the number ‘2.5 km’ or ‘3.9 km’ alone.

Timing medication and monitoring how the dog feels

We have also observed the timing of Vetmedin in relation to walks. Previously, the evening walk usually took place before the medicine was given. One evening, I gave the dose agreed with the veterinarian before the walk and watched for any difference in Faddy’s exercise tolerance. He completed a 3.93 km route without the type of collapse he had experienced before.

One walk does not prove that the medicine should necessarily be given at that time. It does, however, give us another question to discuss with the veterinarian: could Faddy benefit if the medicine’s effect were better aligned with the more active part of his day?

I also plan to ask whether it might make sense to divide Faddy’s daily amount into smaller doses. Any such adjustment can only be made together with his veterinarian, because options that differ from the usual treatment schedule must be assessed according to the health of the individual animal.

What matters to me is that treatment does not happen in a vacuum. We pay attention to what the dog himself tells us about it.

Sometimes the dog tells us absolutely nothing

There is, of course, one small problem with Faddy: he is exceptionally poor at sharing information about his health. If you ask him how he feels, the answer would probably be:

“Everything is fine.”

Is there 2.5 litres of fluid in your abdomen?

“I’m fine.”

Is your heart doing something strange?

“Everything is fine.”

Shall we go and bark at the bin lorry now?

“YES.”

That is why an owner needs to notice even very small changes: a dog sitting down more often than usual during a walk, a dog who once reacted to every cyclist no longer reacting, refusing food he used to love, beginning to run along the fence again, no longer needing to urinate at night, or sleeping more peacefully.

Any one of these details may be completely insignificant on its own. Together, however, they can form a very telling picture.

A dog’s appetite returning after illness

During the worst phase of his illness, Faddy did not eat normally for almost two weeks. This quickly created another problem: even when a dog begins eating again, it does not automatically mean the diet is balanced. Faddy was happy to eat raw chicken, raw meaty pork bones, chicken gizzards, liver and other meat products, but for a long time he refused his usual complete food.

One important recovery goal for me was therefore to bring complete food back into his diet, because it provides controlled amounts of the vitamins, minerals and trace elements he needs. A major change has now taken place here as well.

One evening, Faddy ate around 400 grams of wet food and another 300 grams the following morning. Admittedly, dried liver had to be placed on top because, according to Faddy’s official version of events, he still does not eat wet food. He simply eats liver under highly complicated logistical conditions. To me, however, 700 grams of complete food means that a balanced diet is genuinely returning to his menu.

He has also started eating a little dry food. After such considerable weight loss, this is particularly important because recovery requires not only energy and protein, but a complete range of nutrients.

An owner does not need to be a veterinarian

I want to make one point very clear. I am not suggesting that a pet owner should diagnose an animal, prescribe medicines or change doses independently.

Every change to Faddy’s treatment plan and medicine doses has been made together with our veterinarian. I can observe Faddy at home, gather information, ask questions and point out possible connections. The veterinarian’s job is to assess whether my observation may be medically relevant and decide what to do with that information. This distinction matters. A good owner does not need to know more about veterinary medicine than the veterinarian, but a good owner should know their own animal.

Good collaboration between a veterinarian and pet owner begins with questions

It sometimes seems to me that pet owners fall into two extremes. Some hand all responsibility to the doctor and do not dare to ask anything. Others have read so much online that they arrive at the clinic with a diagnosis and treatment plan already prepared. Neither seems ideal to me.

The internet contains a great deal of useful information, but a dog is not treated by Google, a Facebook group or a single scientific paper. At the same time, a veterinarian cannot know everything that I know about my dog’s everyday life. The best solution develops where these two worlds meet.

I have written before about how our knowledge of canine health and wellbeing continues to evolve and why owners can benefit from staying curious and informed. There is no need to fear that curiosity or awareness, and it is always worth sharing observations with the veterinarian. A good veterinarian will listen to them.

I can say: ‘I noticed that his legs were already thicker two years ago.’ ‘The skin problem began to improve during the antibiotic course.’ ‘After this medicine was started, he had two episodes that had never happened before.’ ‘They have not happened since the dose was changed.’ ‘Since reducing the furosemide, he no longer needs to urinate at night.’ ‘Today he walked 2.54 km without a single break.’

The veterinarian can place those observations alongside listening to the heart, ultrasound findings, blood-test results, pharmacology and medical experience. Only then does the whole picture begin to emerge.

The most important patient in this collaboration is still the dog

We still do not know exactly what happened to Faddy’s heart. We do not yet know whether this is primary heart disease, an inflammatory process, myocarditis or something else. Nor do we know whether the fluid in his abdominal cavity was caused only by the heart, or whether the liver, inflammation, low albumin or another mechanism also played a role. Further investigation is needed.

We do, however, know much more than we did three weeks ago. The abdominal fluid has not returned. His blood-test results have improved considerably. Faddy is eating again and sleeping peacefully through the night. His desire to move has returned. He runs along the fence again and considers it necessary to supervise the activities of passing cyclists personally.

These are not laboratory values, but they are still health data. That is why I increasingly believe that the best care develops when a veterinarian does not see an owner’s questions as interference, and an owner does not see the veterinarian simply as the person whose job is to write a prescription.

One knows medicine. The other knows the patient. When those two kinds of knowledge are brought together, the dog has a much better chance of receiving help that truly suits them.