The PROTECT Study

I think a note on this is important.

The PROTECT study is an extensive, long-term study on the effectiveness of treating dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dobermanns. This disease - swelling of the heart - is a major issue; it's been estimated that as many as 50% of all males die from it and a significant chunk of the females too (males are much worse affected though, if the stats are anything to go by).

The study is looking at how effective pimobendan (trade name Vetmedin) is at treating occult DCM; that is, DCM that as yet has shown no outward symptoms. It's a sneaky disease - once a dog is showing signs it's usually quite far along and the dog doesn't have much time left.

Under the study, dobes aged between 5-9 (the other age ranges have the numbers they need now) are being scanned free of charge at one of two teaching hospitals to determine if they are in the early stages of DCM. If they are, then they are entered into a double-blind study (so an affected dog would be given either Vetmedin or a placebo, but no-one knows which) and monitored. If not, well, at least we know their heart is healthy. The hospitals do sometimes do repeat scans on unaffected dogs too - Soli is going for her second next month.

It's well worth looking into - DCM in dobes appears to have a strong genetic element so the more that can be learned the better (to that end, any information about the dog's parents, siblings etc that is know is collected - although if nothing is known the dog can still be scanned).

As I've said, Soli has been scanned once, in Jan '08 - although her heart was fine, the hospital run blood tests as part of the study and that was how we first became aware of a thyroid issue with her. Luckily despite that - and her other medical issues now - they are still happy to scan her again.

So on the 9th July, me, Soli, Remy and Paige are all off to Liverpool! Remy is now in the age range - back in '08 he was a few months too young.

I urge anyone who has or knows of a dobe (or dobes), 5-9 years old inclusive, to give the PROTECT peeps a call; leave your details and they'll get back to you very quickly. It's worth it - every dobe helps, and every dobe could potentially benefit from the findings of the study one day.

The number to call is 01344 742 574.