[angelcake]

Hi, I had to take my little baby girl to the vets the other day and I had the fright of my life,Angel is 13mths old and the vet is picking up a slight heart murmur or so she thinks and wer'e now being referred to a heart specialist.I saved up for such a long to buy my little girl and as i'm disabled she has helped me so much with getting me out and have been showing her too and my one and only dream was to have apuppy from her eventually as she is such a beautiful little girl with the most beautiful temperment that was my dream. Now my dreams have been shattered and I spend nearly everyday crying,worried of how this will affect my little girl and her future. I have to wait 3 weeks before I know the situation with her whether good or bad i'm worried to death.
I trained her up and we both enjoyed going to ringcraft where she excelled and people remarked what a beautiful all round little dog she is. She really likes to strut her stuff in the show ring and we both thouroughly enjoyed all of this,now I don't know whether we will ever see the show ring again. My heart has been torn apart. I've told the breeder but I think I'd better leave that out,really it's just me and Angel. My little girl means everything to me and now I feel so like I wish it was me not my little girl.
My little girl has always been such a quiet little girl is this why?
How can I make sure when or if I ever buy another that this won't happen again.x

 

[michellerobison]

Depends on the type and stage of heart murmur. My german shepherd had a stage four at age six months stage 6 is the worst. She was left untreated by the former owners until she came to us at age 2,we had her on meds for 11½ years that we had her,so she lived 13½ total,so there's always hope..

She lived to be 11½ more years on med management and watching her diet making sure she got plenty of exercise. She was healthy and playful and happy,other wise ,healthy as a horse.

She could live a long and full life on diligent med management.

I had a cocker w/ bad CHF and he lived to be over 14.

Keep us posted on her and try not to cry,if it's slight,she can do quite well,but I do
understand how sad it can be to have even the tiniest thing wrong w/ our fluffs. I worried about Grechen every day of her life and she surprised,even our vet... Her heart murmur made it to stage 6 and she still lived another 8 years...

You hang in there and you know the positive thoughts and prayers of SMer's will be going to you ,your sweet girl and your family..

 

[beckinwolf]

There are a few of us with dogs with heart murmurs. It's not the end of the world. As long as you monitor it, I think the dogs can live a healthy life. We got Micky when he was 4. After having him for a year they discovered his heart murmur. Its a grade 3. He is still not required to take meds and he is now 6. We take him to the cardiologist once a year. The cardio dr either gives him an ultrasound or a chest x-ray to monitor whether his heart is increasing in size or not. So far it has stayed the same. Right now on this forum I know of two other dogs for sure that have heart murmurs. Hunter is around 9, and Alex is 13. Alex is slowing down quite a bit, but Hunter is still going strong and quite active. As far as showing goes, well I will let the xperts weigh in on that aspect of it.

 

[Tina]

Don't feel doomed yet. Sometimes a heart murmur goes away on its own too. I agree with Michelle, if it is something then medications can be used to help with it. Lots of dogs live with heart murmurs. :hugging:








Experience the magic........HOME

 

[michellerobison]

Even if it's a bad one,like stage 5 or 6,they can live a full life.

 

[Hunter's Mom]

Hunter has a heart murmor, actually, he has a double heart murmor. So, while his heart murmor is a higher grade (either a 3 or 4) because its a double and it balancing itself out he is still on a lower dose of medications. His medication is $16 for 50 days worth of pills. He did go each year to the cardio doctor and had an ultrasound and ekg but now we only have to go every other year. The initial cost of these procedures was $670 but we live in NE where everything is expensive and we were able to plan for the second one and will be able to plan for every other year.

Don't loose hope or get too upset until you know the diagnosis - you would never know Hunter's little heart works overtime - he is such a love and he plays and runs like all other dogs

 

[MaryH]

I agree with all that has been said before me. However, if your little girl does have a heart murmur she should not be bred, should not continue to be shown, and you should have a very serious heart to heart conversation with your breeder, especially if you purchased her on a show/breeding contract. You and your little one are in my thoughts and prayers.

Edited to add: Several years ago we took into rescue a young dog, maybe 12-14 mos. old. The owner's husband had a stroke and she could no longer care for both her husband and her dog. Her little one had been diagnosed by two different vets with a heart murmur. So I called my vet and asked that an appointment be set up with a cardiologist for an echocardiogram so that we knew what we were dealing with prior to adoption. The cardiologist wanted her brought in at least 2 hours ahead of time so that she wasn't in a stressed out state at the time of the echocardiogram. Her test was scheduled for 2:00 pm and I had to leave her at the vet's office for the day because I had to go to work. At just about 2:00 I got a call from the cardiologist asking why I wanted an echocardiogram as she was hearing NO heart murmur. I asked for the test to be done anyway since 2 different vets had diagnosed it. So, $250 later, I picked up our little rescue girl who DID NOT have a heart murmur. She got a clean bill of health and is still living happily ever after. Moral of the story: not all vets do a great job diagnosing heart murmurs. Best to have the test done by a specialist. You may find out your little one is just fine.

 

[MalteseJane]

I think the problem is different with a young dog. I don't know how they measure the heart murmur. My vet in Houston never told me the grade. He was diagnosed at 10 years old but no symptoms. Symptoms started 6 months later. That's when we started the meds for it. Since he is an older dog it could be that the progress of the illness is faster than in younger dogs. We almost lost him 2 years ago. I got a copy of his records only recently because they sent them to the eye doctor. That's where I read that the grade is 4-5/6 systolic murmur. We are also dealing with two problems. His heart is as big as the one of a labrador and is pushing on his trachea and it makes the trachea collapse. That's why we have the coughing. We were told that they can manage the disease for about 4 years. But again, this is an older dog with a trachea problem at the same time. The day the trachea collapses completely it's the end. We are very aware that this can happen from one moment to the other. We are now at the limit of what we can give for his heart : enalapril and pimobendan. We were able to raise the dosage for the lasix and he is doing well again. For how long we don't know. I have heard the same thing Tina said, that in a young dog the murmur can go away on it's own. I would not worry about it at this young age.

 

[Starsmom]

I'm always disturbed when I read someones baby is very ill, and this is no exception. I'm sorry you and Angle have to go through this. You mentioned you told the breeder - what does your health guarantee state as well as the response from the breeder? Since you have been showing her, you must of had a show/breeder contract as MaryH stated.

Please keep positive thoughts, as all of us at SM will be doing the same. :grouphug::Flowers 2:

 

[michellerobison]

She could outgrow it,but I would still have it monitored. Just hang in there and think positive thoughts. We'll all be holding her in our thoughts too.

 

[jmm]

Young dogs can often have murmurs due to completely benign reasons. These dogs live long, healthy lives. By seeing the cardiologist you will know the exact cause of the murmur and they will be able to guide you as to whether any continued monitoring/medication is required or not.

 

[allheart]

My Dear boy Flakey had a heart murmur and lived to a beautiful age of 15 years old. As he got older, he did need medicine, but was fine while he was younger and up to his adult years. Prayers for your little one.

 

[uniquelovdolce]

i will be praying for ur angel.

 

[sunnycleveland]

poor little Angel - I hope she gets to live a long happy life. my heart is aching for you

 

[Maidto2Maltese]

Praying that this is nothing of concern. I've known a few cases of very young pooches being dx with murmur who later had no murmur. Either it 'disappeared' or wasn't truly a murmur in the first place. I think when a pooch is stressed/excited a dx of murmur can be difficult to confirm.

 

[MillieMoo]

Without sounding very harsh or subtle, if you're pooch does have a heart murmur, then i'd advise you putting them to sleep.

I had my Yorkshire Terrier for just 7 years before we discovered she had a murmur. She'd catch infections every month and take two months to recover. She devoloped a lung problem and was on two tablets every morning.

She used to have coughing fits, so we'd take her to the vets and they'd give her and injection and then she'd be fine. That's what we thought would happen the last time she had her coughing fit, so took her off to the vets and by the time she got home she was fine, no cough in site. She jumped on the sofa to relax...five minutes later a vessel in her heart had burst and she was unconscious, dying, blood coming out of her mouth and there was nothing I or the vet could do for her anymore.

I wouldn't want anyone to ever go through what I saw, I felt my beloved dogs heart beat for the last time and to this day, I can't think of her without my eyes welling up.

If, I found Millie had a heart murmur now, though it would break my heart. I'd have her put to sleep. Purely because I could never see another dog go through the amount of tablets Truffles went through and the outcome was always inevitable.

Hope this doesn't upset you too much, but you can't do anything to help her now. If she has it, she's dying.

R.I.P Truffles!! :heart:

 

[jmm]

Wow very untrue. If you have an echocardiogram with a cardiologist you can know the problem, prognosis, and treatments. Many dogs have benign problems and authorizing them is ridiculous.

 

[Snowbody]

Without sounding very harsh or subtle, if you're pooch does have a heart murmur, then i'd advise you putting them to sleep.

I had my Yorkshire Terrier for just 7 years before we discovered she had a murmur. She'd catch infections every month and take two months to recover. She devoloped a lung problem and was on two tablets every morning.

She used to have coughing fits, so we'd take her to the vets and they'd give her and injection and then she'd be fine. That's what we thought would happen the last time she had her coughing fit, so took her off to the vets and by the time she got home she was fine, no cough in site. She jumped on the sofa to relax...five minutes later a vessel in her heart had burst and she was unconscious, dying, blood coming out of her mouth and there was nothing I or the vet could do for her anymore.

I wouldn't want anyone to ever go through what I saw, I felt my beloved dogs heart beat for the last time and to this day, I can't think of her without my eyes welling up.

If, I found Millie had a heart murmur now, though it would break my heart. I'd have her put to sleep. Purely because I could never see another dog go through the amount of tablets Truffles went through and the outcome was always inevitable.

Hope this doesn't upset you too much, but you can't do anything to help her now. If she has it, she's dying.

R.I.P Truffles!! :heart:

I'm very sorry for what happened to Truffles but I think that's the exception, not the rule. PTS a healthy dog for a heart murmur - I would say, no way and I agree with Jackie. My yorkie had a heart murmur for years, was perfectly active and healthy and the joy of my lifem and died at age 13. He was on a pill a day. BTW, I have a heart murmur -- it's now called Mitral Valve Prolapse, at least in the human world -- and is VERY common in women. I see a cardiologist routinely (who has it herself and is a total athlete) and am just fine thank you. I'll be taking my chances with it.

 

[Ladysmom]

Without sounding very harsh or subtle, if you're pooch does have a heart murmur, then i'd advise you putting them to sleep.

I had my Yorkshire Terrier for just 7 years before we discovered she had a murmur. She'd catch infections every month and take two months to recover. She devoloped a lung problem and was on two tablets every morning.

She used to have coughing fits, so we'd take her to the vets and they'd give her and injection and then she'd be fine. That's what we thought would happen the last time she had her coughing fit, so took her off to the vets and by the time she got home she was fine, no cough in site. She jumped on the sofa to relax...five minutes later a vessel in her heart had burst and she was unconscious, dying, blood coming out of her mouth and there was nothing I or the vet could do for her anymore.

I wouldn't want anyone to ever go through what I saw, I felt my beloved dogs heart beat for the last time and to this day, I can't think of her without my eyes welling up.

If, I found Millie had a heart murmur now, though it would break my heart. I'd have her put to sleep. Purely because I could never see another dog go through the amount of tablets Truffles went through and the outcome was always inevitable.

Hope this doesn't upset you too much, but you can't do anything to help her now. If she has it, she's dying.

R.I.P Truffles!! :heart:

Yikes! I can't believe you are recommending euthanasia for a dog with a heart murmur!

My vet discovered a slight heart murmur when I adopted Lady at age four. She is now 15.

She is was also diagnosed with diabetes when she was 6.5 years old. She has gotten insulin shots twice a day for the past eight years. She is prone to infections because of her weakened immune system, but having her put to sleep never crossed my mind.

On the other hand, I lost a 13 year old Siamese cat to a heart attack when she threw a clot. Holly never had any symptoms up until then.

All our pets are going to die of something at some point. That is the reality of pet ownership.

 

[beckinwolf]

Without sounding very harsh or subtle, if you're pooch does have a heart murmur, then i'd advise you putting them to sleep.

I had my Yorkshire Terrier for just 7 years before we discovered she had a murmur. She'd catch infections every month and take two months to recover. She devoloped a lung problem and was on two tablets every morning.

She used to have coughing fits, so we'd take her to the vets and they'd give her and injection and then she'd be fine. That's what we thought would happen the last time she had her coughing fit, so took her off to the vets and by the time she got home she was fine, no cough in site. She jumped on the sofa to relax...five minutes later a vessel in her heart had burst and she was unconscious, dying, blood coming out of her mouth and there was nothing I or the vet could do for her anymore.

I wouldn't want anyone to ever go through what I saw, I felt my beloved dogs heart beat for the last time and to this day, I can't think of her without my eyes welling up.

If, I found Millie had a heart murmur now, though it would break my heart. I'd have her put to sleep. Purely because I could never see another dog go through the amount of tablets Truffles went through and the outcome was always inevitable.

Hope this doesn't upset you too much, but you can't do anything to help her now. If she has it, she's dying.

R.I.P Truffles!! :heart:

AngelCake, PLEASE don't listen to this posters advice. I can't imagine putting Micky down because of his heart murmur. He's perfectly healthy. Runs around like a puppy all the time. All of us are going to die one day. You can't really predict HOW though. They could die of a thousand other things.