Many dogs with heart failure may not cough, whereas dyspnea, wheezes and sometimes orthopnea are common historical findings. Some dogs will cough with relatively mild edema and others only cough with severe pulmonary edema. It appears that the speed with which the pulmonary edema develops may play a role in determining when or if cough is to develop.
Pulse deficits are present when the pulse rate is less than the heart rate.
This results in heart beats that do not eject enough blood to generate a palpable pulse. The presence of pulse deficits should alert the diagnostician to the occurrence of premature ectopic beats. This test checks for the presence of jugular distention or jugular pulsations when pressure is placed in the region of the cranial abdomen in a ventral to dorsal direction. The animal should be standing or in sternal recumbency to perform this test. A positive test result indicates that there is elevated pressure in the right atrium or right ventricle.