Affaire's Rainbow After the Storm, "K'uychi"

K'uychi was a littermate to Chase and Tailor. She was echoed in 2008 along with the rest of her littermates and was one of the puppies from this breeding that was diagnosed with mild Mitral Valve Dysplasia. The condition of the Mitral Valve in these puppies is so mild, that it should not ever be a factor in their overall health or longevity. This is not a progressive condition and in fact, I have had her brother Chase echoed recently and his condition has not changed at all.

Something happened with K'uychi though. We don't really know why, but she ended up having a fatal infarction, which is a heart attack. On the necropsy, there were indications that she had been having minor heart attacks that had gone unnoticed. There were also nutrifils indicative of early endocarditis. Yet, K'uychi was not sick and dogs with endocarditis are normally noticeably ill. There was no sign of DCM.

The pathologist suggested that there may have been turbulence in the valve that caused blood clots to form and one of them broke loose causing this fatal event. However, my local cardiologist has reviewed the case and her initial opinion is that since there was no regurgitation in the valve (it was not leaking), then there should have been no turbulence. She is doing further review and I am waiting to hear of her opinions.

At this point, we do not have a definitive cause. We know that she died of a heart attack, but not why it happened. Unfortunately, despite the diligence of the owner of this dog and the follow up that I have done with littermates and my local cardiologist, we will probably never know.