One evening my 4 month old Shih Tzu had a pounding chest which would
not step. The 24hr emergency vet took x-rays and said her heart appears
enlarged, possibly touching a few ribs, and gave her a diaretic to
drain liqid. She immediately improved.

Skip forward two weeks, not a single incident. She continues to be
happy, eating fine, playing with her sister all the time and full of
energy. But, our vet is insisting she see a dog cardiologist and get an
echocardiogram. If she really is ill I am happy to go, but want to
avoid a $750+ visit when our regular vet didnt not even examine her and
just said she should get the tests done, she might be fine.

Any advice?

Skip forward two weeks, not a single incident. She continues to be
happy, eating fine, playing with her sister all the time and full of
energy. But, our vet is insisting she see a dog cardiologist and get an
echocardiogram. If she really is ill I am happy to go, but want to
avoid a $750+ visit when our regular vet didnt not even examine her and
just said she should get the tests done, she might be fine.

The medication took care of the immidiate symptoms, but you really should
find the cause. Preventive medicine in the long run is cheaper and more
successful than waiting for a crisis. As for your vet not examining her,
he/she probably has carefuly read the report and seen the x-rays from the
emergency vet and may not have the equipment to do echos. You can pay to
have your vet do an exam and probably an ECG, but I would bet based on the
fact that your dog has already had a crisis with an enlarged heart, it won't
change his/her advice for you to have further testing done to find the
cause.

-Sharon

said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

If she really is ill I am happy to go, but want to
avoid a $750+ visit when our regular vet didnt not even
examine her and just said she should get the tests done,
she might be fine.

First things first. Find a vet whose opinion you trust.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.