Heart Murmur

ladymarmalade222

I recently took my dog on holiday to France and had to visit the vet for an injection and passport stamped before coming back into the UK. Whilst she was doing her health check she asked if I knew my dog had a heart murmur.

She is 8.5 years old and a jack russell cross poodle. She has always had like a honking cough when she tugs on a toy if she is playing and a few years ago I did some research and discovered a lot of small breeds are susceptible to trachea collapse and thought she may have an issue. I also read there were only a handful of specialists and they were reluctant to operate as it was a risky operation so I made sure tugging was not on the play agenda and she always wore a harness instead of a collar.

I mentioned to the vet in france that I suspected an issue with her trachea and she agreed that it could be linked.

She has always been insured and never visited the vet apart from routine injections and passport.

My vet has never mentioned a heart murmur and he always health checks her when I visit.

Is a heart murmur just something that comes with old age? She is otherwise a very healthy happy energetic dog and is often mistaken for a puppy when she is out digging and in the rivers swimming.

I suppose what I am asking is should I look into this further? Is it just a sign of old age? She is my absolute world but I know I would not put her through a risky operation. She is also insured with AXA who have recently stopped doing pet insurance and I am now concerned regarding hiking premiums for pre-existing conditions (I think the jury is out on what will happen with AXA).

I look forward to your views.

xxx

rustyboy21

She was most likely born with the murmur and it hasn't been picked up really in the past. Humans suffer with them and again they are only picked up when something else is wrong normally.


Rusty had a heart murmur and we only found out when he was 15 years old, it had never been discussed before.


I would see your vet and ask them about it, they may have noticed it in the past, but didn't tell you, as if they did, you may want treatment done which may end up in a worse state. They can live quite happily with one, it just shows up more as they get older and less agile. If you take her to the vet regularly for check ups they may have been monitoring it to ensure things didnt get worse.


Speak to your vet and see what they say, but remember you still have a lovely young at heart pooch there, who wont know about it anyway and lives life to the full each day, don't start restricting her fun, because you may now know about it. It wouldn't be fair on her.

Primmer

I would take him to your vet and ask them to check and so it is on his records if he does have it. The reason for this is that it could affect what medication he is given in the future if any issues arise. My elderly cat was diagnosed with a heart murmur last year which meant that when she later suffered from a skin condition they didn't give her steroids as it could have been dangerous with her heart. Other than old age she is absolutely fine and isn't on any medication for her heart murmur.

ladymarmalade222

Thanks for replying, I was just a bit shocked as she has always seemed so healthy, I was gutted and really upset on holiday.

xxx

Shoshannah

rustyboy21 wrote: »

She was most likely born with the murmur and it hasn't been picked up really in the past. Humans suffer with them and again they are only picked up when something else is wrong normally.

Not quite - a murmur can be present without any other signs of a problem at all.

In dogs, the most common cause of heart murmurs is MVD (mitral valve disease), which is a problem associated with ageing and not something they are born with.

GBNI

Shoshannah wrote: »

Not quite - a murmur can be present without any other signs of a problem at all.

In dogs, the most common cause of heart murmurs is MVD (mitral valve disease), which is a problem associated with ageing and not something they are born with.

As above. My dog is 13 and was diagnosed with a heart murmur a few months back (she was in for her booster). She had displayed none of the typical symptoms for the issue. As hers is low grade though, we have decided to keep her off medication for the time being, but if she starts to display symptoms (the coughing, panting excessively after short amounts of exercise etc) then she'll go for a review and probably start medication.

teddysmum

Poodles,like cavaliers (I have had four) are prone to MVD. In the cavaliers' case the proliferation started with wide scale breeding by moneymakers , after Allensmere Aquarius was Crufts Supreme champion, some years ago.



It is not necessarily age connected as dogs of these breeds can develop a murmur at a very early age. Others are born with a murmur, which disappears, but the latter is usually because of delayed development rather than a disease, which will progress.

My second eldest dog, Izzy, was diagnosed at about 6, when a newly qualified vet examined him. He had no symptoms, so needed no medication and the practice owner had always said he had a good heart for the breed. I'd assumed she meant that he was heart clear, but she meant he had only a low grade.


A month later, I was told that my 7 year old boy, Monty, also had a murmur, but very low (barely a 1).


Both obviously got worse and needed medication, which gave each a couple of good years, but whereas Izzy got worse and was dead by 9, Monty didn't need meds until he was 11 and went on to a few weeks short of 14.


Of my present two , Joly, 11, has had a low grade for 2years and I hope this proves to be the case at MOT in October. Teddy, 11 this month, however, is heart clear, yet one of my vets thought he had a murmur three years ago, but there was no sign of it a month after it was noted.


Heart medications are excellent and the protocol, nowadays is Vetmedin , with Frusemide if there is fluid build up, followed by the former starter drug, Fortekor. Most vets don't medicate until symptoms occur; these, usually, being shortness of breath and a cough.