Board-certified veterinary cardiologist
Matthew W. Miller
DVM, MS · Diplomate ACVIM (Cardiology)
Nearly four decades devoted to the animal heart: 26 years on the Texas A&M faculty as a professor of cardiology, director of its Institute for Preclinical Studies, Charter Fellow of the Michael E. DeBakey Institute, and Arizona’s 2023 Veterinarian of the Year. He helped formulate CardioChew and medically reviews the heart guides in this library.
DVM, The Ohio State University; MS follows in 1993
Board-certified Diplomate in Cardiology, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 1988
Texas A&M faculty (1988-2014), full professor with tenure
Peer-reviewed publications in veterinary and translational cardiology
Arizona Veterinarian of the Year, Arizona Veterinary Medical Association
About Dr. Miller
Matthew Miller trained at The Ohio State University, earning his DVM in 1984 and returning for a cardiology residency after an internship in Los Angeles. Board-certified in 1988, he joined the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine the same year and stayed for 26 years, rising to full professor with tenure. His clinical research helped define familial ventricular arrhythmias in Boxers and dilated cardiomyopathy in Great Danes, put feline heartworm disease on the map, and produced one of the largest studies ever published on patent ductus arteriosus, the most common congenital heart defect in dogs.
His work reached beyond veterinary patients. As a Charter Fellow of the Michael E. DeBakey Institute and director of the Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies, the translational institute founded by Dr. Terry Fossum, he helped move cardiovascular devices from ventricular assist systems to vascular implants toward human use. He also served the profession’s fight against heartworm disease for years, including chairing the American Heartworm Society’s Triennial Symposium.
In 2014 he returned to full-time clinical practice in Arizona, where he now leads Thrive Pet Healthcare Specialists North Scottsdale as medical director and staff cardiologist. At Dr. Fossum’s Pet Care he helped formulate CardioChew and reviews every guide in the dog heart health library for medical accuracy.
Career highlights
- 1984
DVM, The Ohio State University
Internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the West Los Angeles Veterinary Medical Group follows.
- 1985-1988
Cardiology residency, The Ohio State University
Residency and graduate research in Columbus; his MS from Ohio State follows in 1993.
- 1988
Diplomate, ACVIM (Cardiology)
Board certification in veterinary cardiology; joins the Texas A&M faculty the same year.
- 1988-2014
Professor of Cardiology, Texas A&M University
Twenty-six years on the faculty, rising to full professor with tenure; Charter Fellow of the Michael E. DeBakey Institute for Comparative Cardiovascular Science and Biomedical Devices.
- 2012-2014
Director, Texas A&M Institute for Preclinical Studies
Led the translational institute founded by Dr. Terry Fossum, carrying devices and therapies toward human clinical use.
- 2014
Full-time specialty practice, Arizona
Returns to the clinic floor in the Phoenix area as a practicing cardiologist.
- 2023
Arizona Veterinarian of the Year
Named by the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association.
- 2024
Medical Director, Thrive Pet Healthcare Specialists North Scottsdale
Leads the specialty and emergency hospital, formerly Animal Medical and Surgical Center, while practicing cardiology.
Selected publications
From more than 90 peer-reviewed publications in veterinary and translational cardiology. Each entry links to its PubMed record.
Familial ventricular arrhythmias in Boxers
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 1999. Defined a familial arrhythmia now central to Boxer cardiology.
Read on PubMed ↗Clinical features of dilated cardiomyopathy in Great Danes: 17 cases
JAVMA, 2001. Clinical and pedigree evidence in a predisposed breed.
Read on PubMed ↗Prevalence of heartworm infection in cats with signs of cardiorespiratory abnormalities
JAVMA, 1998. Helped establish feline heartworm disease as a real clinical entity.
Read on PubMed ↗Long-term outcome in dogs with patent ductus arteriosus: 520 cases (1994-2009)
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2014. One of the largest PDA outcome cohorts ever published.
Read on PubMed ↗Transarterial ductal occlusion using the Amplatz Canine Duct Occluder in 40 dogs
Journal of Veterinary Cardiology, 2010. Early clinical evidence for the device that changed PDA closure.
Read on PubMed ↗Natural history of cardiomyopathy in adult dogs with Golden Retriever muscular dystrophy
Journal of the American Heart Association, 2019. Translational model work relevant to Duchenne cardiomyopathy.
Read on PubMed ↗Media and speaking
Heart guides he reviews
Dog heart health
The full library: murmurs to heart failure, staged and explained.
Read the guide →Heart murmurs
What the grades mean and what happens next.
Read the guide →Congestive heart failure
Signs, stages, and treatment that extends the good days.
Read the guide →Heartworm disease
Prevention, testing, and treatment, explained properly.
Read the guide →