Shinon Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I adopted a dog last year in February, and on taking her to the vet for her yearly examination this year the vet found she had developed a slight heart murmur. Her first vet guesstimated her to be some age between 6 and 9 last year, which would make her between 7 and 10 this year. They registered her as born in 2003 anyway. The vet said the heart murmur wasn't anything to worry about as it isn't fatal. But I recall two years ago I'd met someone whose horse had supposedly died of a heart murmur a the age of 20 something. So when I asked the vet, she just said don't worry, she's safe for now. Problem: I'm worried. I'm VERY worried. I'm extremely worried. From my digging around for information, I hadn't been able to get a firm word as to a heart murmur's fatality. And I was wondering if there's anything I need to do specially for a dog with heart murmur? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 A heart murmur is a symptom, not a disease. Heart murmurs can be caused by heaps of different things, some serious, some completely benign. They basically just indicate that something is causing some level of turbulent blood flow in the heart. How loud they are, where they are loudest on the chest wall, and where they occur in the cardiac cycle, can sometimes give a clue what's causing the turbulent flow. Possibly the vet guesses it's nothing much to worry about based on those clues. You could always ask for referral for a further work up (probably starting with chest rads) if you were really worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinon Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Hm... The way you say it is so much different from what the vet told me, she made it sound pret-ty scary, she said something along the lines of this (not exact wording of course) "Well a heart murmur is basically when a dog's two heart valves are not closing together properly, it happens a lot to dogs in their senior years. Because the two halves don't close properly, some of the blood flows backwards which sometimes causes coughing, like a hhhhh! hhhhhh! sound. Does your dog ever do that sometimes?" So I told her she does sometimes start making huffing sounds. Then she told me "This could mean her heart isn't as up to the job anymore, and usually when you listen to it through a stethescope it should make a boom, boom, boom sound but hers is making a sort of whoosh, whoosh, whoosh sound as it beats. It's not serious or fatal yet, but you might want to pay attention to it and bring her back if there are any difficulties in.... her daily routine" Then she pretty much shooed us out before I could say a word. And on the way home I was holy panicking. 'Any difficulties in her daily routine'? 'isn't as up to the job anymore'? 'not fatal YET'?? None of the vets who were taking care of her for her dental surgery said anything about heart problems, but they were concentrating on her teeth, so..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 (edited) I'm confused - do you mean that the vet is talking about the dog coughing, or about the dog's heart making "coughing" sounds? The first can be a symptom of congestive heart disease (the heart isn't moving the blood properly so it backs up into the lungs causing a cough), the second just sounds like she is describing any type of murmur. Dog heart valves often do degenerate as the dog ages (called endocardiosis). That can cause a heart murmur, and can sometimes ultimately lead to congestive heart failure (DCM), although it certainly doesn't always do so. If you're worried, you can ask for a full work up, including cardiac radiology. This can show if the heart has enlarged, or if the lungs are becoming full of fluid, both of which would suggest congestive heart disease. But even in that case, it is usual to not start treating congestive heart disease until it becomes symptomatic (since treating it before that doesn't help the dog). So even if the work up shows some form of heart disease, you won't necessarily start to treat it now. You'll start to treat it when it starts to affect the dog's daily life. Edited June 14, 2011 by Staranais Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Our old Stafford got diagnosed with a grade 3 murmer nearly four years ago. He has just turned 14 and his spinal arthritis gives him more issues than his heart. It is now a 3 and a half to a 4. Try not to freak out too much, but if you are stressed I would recommend a second opinion with someone who will listen to your questions and give you the answers that you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Special needs? Best if she doesn't go scuba diving as that isn't compatible with PFO's (holes in the heart - that can sound like heart murmer). It depends how serious it is. If she gets short of breath after exercise, you might want to put a limit on zoomies and wrestling. If a dog has a dodgy heart what treatment options are there? is it worth it? (ie will all that trauma improve quality of life for the dog). Would you want your dog to have doggy heart transplant or valve repair or pfo repair if it was available? Are you freaking out because the dog might suddenly drop dead and there's nothing you can do about it? Um. That prayer - "help me accept the things I cannot change, change the things I can, and have wisdom enough to know the difference". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinon Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 I'm pretty confused about the whole thing too... The vet wasn't being very clear but from what I can make out from what she said it was the heart valves causing the whooshing sound instead of boomp boomp sound when her heart beats causing the coughing. Which is pretty different from what I could find online... I'm worrying because I just don't really know what it is. The vet said that she had a heart murmur, which meant the heart valves aren't closing properly, which meant some blood flowed backwards with each pump, which meant her heart could give her trouble, which meant that was why she makes those HHHHH, HHHHHHH, coughing sounds, and there's nothing I can do about it as it isn't fatal yet. But that doesn't really correspond with what I found online... The vet made it sound like it builds up and goes BAM like a heart attack. That's the part I'm worried about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 If it is valvular insufficiency, sudden death is unlikely. Usually it is a gradual decline, if at all. Maybe speak to a specialist and get an echocardiogram done do diagnose what exactly it is (which can affect prognosis) just to put your mind at ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason_Gibbs Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Go and see a specialist. I myself have a heaet murmur from a faulty valve and it gives me no hassles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Go and see a specialist. I myself have a heaet murmur from a faulty valve and it gives me no hassles Did you vet give the murmur a 'rating'? Murmurs are graded in severity from 1 to 6. Grade 1-3 not considered serious 4-6 possibly requiring medication, and likely to require medication as animals age advances. Your vet stated it was a 'slight' murmer and given the already possible advanced age of your dog I would not be panicking at this stage. Provided the murmur does not advance dramatically and is monitored it should not encrouch on your dogs day to day lifestyle, given that at this age things would be starting to slow down a bit in any case. Keep your dog fit and make sure it does not become fat. If the murmur was not detected last year and is only slight now, chances are it will progress slowly. Sadly, there is many a younger dog that is diagnosed with far more severely rated heart murmurs. Keep your visits to the vet regular, at least twice yearly, and don't worry so much. Feed your dog a healthy diet and allow moderate exercise. Don't over react and stop all the fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinon Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 No... I didn't like that vet very much actually, she was very... Smiley. She just said everything with a biiiiig grin. Your dog has another loose tooth... *grin* Your dog has a heart murmur... *grin* She's fine apart from that, aren't you girl? *grin* Yeeeees I bet you're much happier now than at those old owners place... *grin* And she just said she had a heart murmur, it isn't fatal yet (??) and if she seems down chuck her a call and bring her in. Then she shoved us out of the office cheerfully and said "Bye dears, see you next time, and have fun!" *grin* She has another checkup in August, I'm going to go to a different vet this time, and see if she/he brings it up as needing attention. Her first two vets didn't even tell me she had a heart murmur. She's not all that old yet, though not really a young dog bouncing around wanting it's ball thrown either... She's middle aged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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