The 5 most frequently asked questions primary care veterinarians have for cardiologists

Editor’s note: Jonathan Goodwin, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology), is unaffiliated with C.E.T. and the content of this interview has been in no way influenced by the awareness month sponsor.

On this week’s episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomes Jonathan Goodwin, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology) to the show to talk all things veterinary cardiology.

RELATED: Becoming a veterinary cardiologist

Throughout the episode, the duo will share 5 frequently asked questions veterinary cardiologists get from primary care veterinarians, including when to refer, drugs to avoid for patients with cardiac disease, and more.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: Number 2 is when to refer. So sometimes we're very good at primary care with handling certain things, but hopefully we're fortunate enough to refer to a cardiologist, because not everybody can. But what does that look like on when to refer?

Jonathan Goodwin, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology): I guess to me, what I would say is you guys are the first line of defense. So you're out there, and you got to kind of know your client too, a little bit. But you go out there and you you hear a heart murmur. I tell all the vet students, you know? I think about when I hear about a murmur, I think about chest radiographs. And I said, go ahead and make it like peanut butter jelly. They're like murmur, chest [radiographs], murmur, chest [radiographs], peanut butter jelly, they just go together, you know?

If they go together, then hear the murmur. You get the chest [radiographs]. Give yourself an idea of, is this heart enlarged or not? If it's not enlarged, then I think it's totally fair to say, hey, let's check in on this in 3 months, 4 months, 6 months, whatever you think you need to do based on the owner and the animal. But if it is or you're concerned about them, some enlargement, I'd say, go ahead. Refer early, get a good baseline, and then they come right back to you to do all the things that they need done.

Christman: Nice, excellent, because we could do some of and Now, fortunately, we're learning a lot more how to do [cardiac point-of-care ultrasound] a little bit.

Goodwin: Yeah

Christman: And ECGs ourselves, which is great. So that's always helpful.