Less commonly, the right ventricle that receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs is affected either in addition to or instead of the left ventricle.
The disease causes the part of the heart (the left ventricle) responsible for pumping blood that has returned from the lungs throughout the body to become too weak to adequately perform this function. For instance, when I am faced with a Newfoundland, Cocker Spaniel, or Boxer with a type of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).ĭilated cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle.
There are times, however, when I must recommend otherwise.