My poor dog has a heart murmur

My little dog, Joey, just came back from the vet and they told us that he had developed a heart murmur. He's a manchester toy terrier and I think I remember reading somewhere that it was a common problem with the breed. He's getting pretty old, nine now, and I'm worried about how I should take this. I mean do I need to take special care of him? Is there anything I need to watch him for? I don't know where to start! Any input please?! :shock:

 

What did you vet say to do?

I have a cat with a heart murmur. I don't know if dogs are the same, but I took my cat to a specialist who did an echocardiogram - it's like an ultrasound of the heart. From that test, she could see exactly what was wrong. She put him on some medication. He seems more playful since he has been taking it.

My cat had no symptoms before, so we never would have known about this if the vet hadn't heard the murmur. I hear it is very common with cats to have no symptoms, but I think dogs are more like humans - they may cough, get tired easily, etc.

Some animals need to be put on a low sodium diet, just like humans. My cat does not have to do that. Kidney problems can also follow in the wake of heart problems. If that happens, things get much more complicated.

I would talk to your vet. Ask all the questions you can. Take any technical names for what is wrong (with my cat it is "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy") and do a search on Google for it. Find a Yahoo (or other) group for dogs with heart conditions. Go to a specialist if it seems necessary.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you are both doing!


Jamiya

 

Well my son was diagnosed not to long ago with a grade 2+ heartmurmur. To me that was like the kiss of death, I nearly fainted. He is 14 and no-one ever noticed it before. They say these things are always something that they are born with. I was in the ER with my other son getting his eye cut stitched and mentioned what was going on with my heart murmur boy and the er dr. said that practicley everyone has a murmur of some sort. Its just that some are worst. Its where the blood is not flowing exactly right. My son's specialist has one. I asked around and almost everyone I ask knew someone that had one. With people if it is like my sons they say not to do things like weight lifting push ups, pull up . Twisting and bending excersizes like a gymnast would do. Meds can help if its bad. My son does not take meds as of now maybe later. He would only need a very low does, and they don't know that it would be enough to even change it. When people with heart murmurs get sick, sometimes pregnant, this is when they would notice a pain in their chest. My son had chest pain only one time with a cold. That is when they looked harder into listening to his heart. But I have found that it is something that people and animals can live with for a long time. So whatever happens, meds can help and if he does not need them, then he should be fine. Just limit his excerise keep it moderate. I think dogs know if they feel bad and stop and rest. Just relax about it, as my sons dr said it will be ok. Keep us posted as to what your vet may say. I'm curiuos.

 

It's true, there are many different possible causes of a heart murmur and many are harmless. I was told as a 6-year-old that I had a heart murmur (that must have scared the bejeebers out of my parents), but after a bunch of tests they said it was "innocent" meaning it was nothing harmful. Supposedly I outgrew it, but I had a doctor ask me once a couple of years ago if anyone ever told me I had a heart murmur.

With my cat, he has a slightly enlarged left ventricle and a valvular insufficiency, which means the valve leaks blood back through it instead of holding shut. Sometimes because the heart is working harder to pump blood (because it's not as efficient with the leaky valve) the heart wall will start to thicken. It's like a feedback loop where one causes the other and it all progressively gets worse.

BUT, this can take a long time to happen, or it could never happen at all! That's why I had the echocardiogram done on my cat, to see exactly what was going on. An echocardiogram is non-invasive - they shave a little patch of fur (he was so embarrassed) and put a sensor thing on the chest and watch a screen.

His heart murmur was a grade 4 out of 6 before the meds and now it is a 2 or better with the meds. I don't like him being on meds every day, but I don't know what else to do. His meds are supposed to lower his blood pressure, which lessens the amount of turbulence in the blood leaving the heart (I think) which makes it not have to work so hard.

With a dog, especially if it is an active one, I would make sure I get a list of warning signs from your vet so you know what to watch for. That way if anything does happen, you can get help right away.


Jamiya

 

My cat Molly also has a heart murmur. We found out she had it when she was 2 and now she is 10 and has never had any trouble whatsoever. She had to be on medicine one time for a few weeks because of an infection she got after being spayed.

 

Oh, yeah with my son whenever he has any invasive dental work anything that may make him bleed he has to take antibiots. Dogs tend to get many of the same diseases and problems us humans get. Usually they are easily medicated.