Sometimes there isn't much you can do to save a dog that is born with life-threatening heart disease. But you can help your dog maintain a quality life and add extra years.

Limiting environmental toxins such as pesticides helps alleviate many symptoms of heart disease. Appropriate medical management, supplements and herbs, diet and exercise, and control of environmental factors also go a long way to helping your dog. Keep your dog away from cigarette smoke; secondhand smoke can cause irregular pulse, difficulty breathing, and coughing.

Cut the Calories

Preventing your dog from becoming overweight or even obese helps keep his heart healthy. Too much weight places an enormous strain on his heart and makes breathing far more difficult for him.

Heartworm Prevention

If you live in an area with a high mosquito infestation rate during certain times of the year, discuss heartworm prevention with your veterinarian. Mosquitoes transmit larvae to healthy dogs; the larvae penetrate the skin and migrate to the heart through the circulatory system. Eventually they reach the dog's heart and pulmonary vein. Once inside the heart, heartworms can grow as long as eleven inches and cause a tremendous amount of damage to the heart and lungs. When left untreated, heartworm disease is fatal.

Avoid Dental Disease

Keeping your dog's teeth clean and free from dental disease helps prevent heart problems. When bacteria is allowed to remain on a dog's teeth and gums it eventually enters the bloodstream and settles on the heart valves.

Brush your dog's teeth regularly by wrapping gauze or a washcloth around your finger and use it like a toothbrush. You can gradually progress to a soft doggy toothbrush and water. Later on you can use enzymatic toothpaste or a paste of baking soda and water.

If you have a small or toy breed, her teeth should be professionally cleaned by the veterinary hygenist every three months. This helps to clean those places in the teeth and gums that you just can't reach.