Saving Luna: how an AI scan helped the vet identify what they’d missed in a seemingly healthy Spaniel
A challenge for the vet
Luna is the kind of English Cocker Spaniel who steals hearts on sight. With that whole-body wiggle that makes you feel like you’re the best part of her day. She’s three years old, endlessly cheerful, and, like so many dogs of her breed, quiet about discomfort.
Spaniels are stoics. They don’t tell you when something’s wrong until the problem has already dug in its heels. And for Luna, there was something wrong. Just… not something anyone could hear.
Luna’s family took her to the vet the moment something felt off. Nothing dramatic - just a sense that her energy dipped now and then, or that her breathing seemed a little heavier after walks. The kind of things you hesitate to even mention because dogs have off days too. Her vet performed a full examination, listened to her heart carefully, and reassured her family: “Everything sounds normal.”
And that should have been the end of the story. But the vet wanted certainty: they knew enough about heart conditions in Cocker Spaniels - especially mitral valve disease, the most common acquired heart disease in the breed - to know that early treatment dramatically extends quality of life. And like many Spaniels, Luna was at an age where the earliest changes can begin silently. So the vet reached for the Sonus Health App.
A 30-second scan that changed everything
The vet took a very swift recording of Luna with the app. Just in case. No wires, no stress, no need to restrain her, just 30 seconds of quiet contact. The results were reassuring at first glance:
Heart rate: normal
Heart rate variability: beautifully high, exactly what you want to see in a young, healthy dog
Rhythm: steady and clean
Just as expected. The vet sent Luna’s family home. A couple of days later, however, the app’s full report arrived. It had identified something the vet hadn’t heard: a very soft sound, tucked just after the first heartbeat sound. Not a classic murmur. Not something obvious. Not something a stethoscope would necessarily reliably catch at this stage. But something.
Our AI flagged the possibility of the earliest detectable sign of mitral valve insufficiency (MMVD disease). The subtle beginning of a lifelong disease process that, with early treatment, can be slowed dramatically.
This wasn’t a diagnosis. It was a whisper. A hint. A reason to look closer. And that single nudge changed Luna’s path.
The vet - now with a precise target - was able to review the findings and agreed an echocardiogram was warranted. And that’s the moment early detection begins to matter. When MMVD is caught this early, before a dog shows clinical signs, before the murmur becomes obvious, before the heart begins compensating, lung pressure rising, or valves thickening - treatment can add years of good life.
Why early detection matters so much
Mitral valve disease is progressive. It always starts quietly. By the time a traditional murmur is heard, many dogs already have structural changes in the heart that can’t be reversed. But when you catch the earliest softening of a valve, while the heart is still normal and strong, you change the trajectory. Dogs who begin monitoring and medical management in the earliest stage:
live significantly longer
develop symptoms later
avoid emergency deterioration
stay active and comfortable for far more of their lifespan
Luna’s scan gave her that chance. Using the app, dogs with earliest stage MMVD, or at risk of MMVD, can now be scanned at home by their family - quick, gentle check-ins that track any change in heart sounds with precision. In this way, we’re catching anything new the moment it appears. Luna doesn’t know any of this. She just knows she’s loved, safe, and still gets to bound around the garden like life is one long golden afternoon. And honestly? That’s the whole point.
Names have been changed for the patient’s family privacy
Image credit: Joeltaylor, CC BY-SA 3.0
