Cardiology For Pets

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Veterinary Cardiology
in Charlottesville

Some dogs and cats are born with heart conditions, like heart valve malformations and holes in the septum. But many types of heart disease are acquired later in a pet’s life. With proper diagnosis and treatment, your pet can live a long and happy life with heart disease.

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Veterinary Cardiology

Common heart conditions for cats include:

  • Dilated cardiomyopathy
  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Common heart conditions for dogs include:

  • Degenerative mitral valve disease
  • Dilated cardiomyopathy
  • Pericardial disease
  • Heartworm disease

If your pet shows abnormal symptoms such as weakness, difficulty breathing, coughing, weight loss, and lethargy — see your primary care vet right away. They can refer you to our specialists for advanced care and treatment. With early action, your pet gets the best chance of a positive outcome.

Cardiology Services for Your Pet.

Our cardiology team provides a variety of services for your pet, including:

  • Electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • Cardiac medication management for DCM
  • Echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart)
  • Holter monitoring (a 24-hour ECG)
  • Review of thoracic (chest) radiographs and blood work performed by your primary veterinarian
  • Treatment recommendations for cardiac disease
  • Advanced surgical procedures
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What is a Veterinary Cardiologist?

A veterinary cardiologist treats conditions that involve the heart and circulatory system. The road to becoming a veterinary cardiologist is long.

  • 4 years of pre-professional studies at a university
  • 4 years of veterinary school at an accredited college to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree
  • 1–2 year cardiology internship
  • 3-year residency in cardiology

That’s a total of 13-14 years of education—and it doesn’t even count the exams a veterinary cardiologist must pass to obtain board certification.

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Cardiologist

Anna Paling, DVM, Diplomate ACVIM

Dr. Anna Paling was born in England and raised in Maryland and Virginia. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Biology with Honors from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.

Dr. Paling then moved out to Southern California and taught high school for one year. After that time, she attended veterinary school at the University of California, Davis; School of Veterinary Medicine, in Davis, California. Dr. Paling completed her DVM from UC Davis and then completed a private practice internship in small animal internal medicine and surgery in Sacramento, CA. She then returned to UC Davis to go through the cardiology residency program at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. During her residency, Dr. Paling received several awards for excellent performance, including winning the residence research project award in 2008 for her clinical research in congenital heart disease: subaortic stenosis (SAS). Dr. Paling completed her residency and became a board-certified cardiologist in 2008.

From 2008 to 2010, Dr. Paling worked in a private veterinary specialty practice in the San Francisco Bay Area as their first cardiologist. In 2010, Dr. Paling and her family relocated to North Carolina, where she practiced for a year and a half. She returned to Charlottesville in 2013 to join Virginia Veterinary Specialty & Emergency as the first veterinary cardiologist in Charlottesville.

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