Does anyone have any experience of heart murmur in dogs.

[BBH]

As title really. Took my bulldog for his Booster on friday to be told he has a grade 1 heart murmur. The vet said its very slight ( grade 1 ) and may or may not get worse. I have to monitor him for excessive panting and coughing which in a bulldog is hard as they are always panting, snorting and snuffling.

He is a rescue dog of 3 yrs and I wondered why it hadn't been picked up before or if its something he has newly acquired.

I had loads of questions but couldn't ask the vet as she was a locum and her English wasn't great and I needed a serious conversation about what this means.

Anyone know how to manage a dog with this condition.

 

[misterjinglejay]

I'm not sure about the grades of murmurs, but one of my samoyed bitches had a 'mild' murmur. It wasn't picked up as a pup, but on her one year old vaccination.

The vet advised us just to carry on as normal and not to worry. We, obviously, avoided walking her when it was hot (but having floofy dogs, we do that anyway). She lived a full and normal life with the murmur not getting worse, and was PTS due to arthritis at 13 years old.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Big dog has slight arrhythmia but then I was told 'what dog hasn't' and it's a very minor murmur and to not worry.

As yours is a bull dog, I'd just be very careful of hot days, too much exercise and ask the vet for any further advice.

 

[BBH]

Thanks.

I am very careful to not over heat him but vet said to exercise him but didn't elaborate as to how much. Also said his diet is fine but have been reading he should be on a low sodium diet.

I've been reading this morning and am not panicking but seems to only be a problem if it gets worse.

 

[sandymere]

The heart if a system of valves and chambers that efficiently moves blood around the body. Normal heart sounds, such as the double beat we are all used to, are the blood being passed from chamber to chamber through the valves. When the heart is still growing there is often a mismatch in sizes of valves etc that leads to blood flowing less efficiently through the system causing 'turbulence'. The sound of this turbulence, is called a murmur, and is graded 1 to 6 based on how loud it is. The louder the sound the more turbulence which equates to how effective or not the heart will be.

As the heart matures these size mismatches usually resolve and the heart develops normal efficient flow so the sounds disappear but occasionally there can be murmurs in mature animals which is caused by similar turbulence and as they need proper evaluation by a vet that knows their stuff. These can also develop through damage to the heart although may have been there since puppyhood and just never picked up.
Whether genetic or through damage the grade is important as what grade will decide the future of the dog ie low grade, as with yours, then likely live a normal life against high grade causing a very inefficient heart. Just keep an eye for more short of breath, coughing than it’s norm.

Ps, Alas if diagnosed as a heart murmur in a mature animal I wouldn't use it for breeding.
Regards s

 

[BBH]

Thankyou v much Sandy. Have no intentions of breeding him. Have also had some reassurance on Bulldog site. Seems its not that un common in dogs.

 

[Daytona]

Yes my last boxer had a 3/5 heart murmur and was used to bred by a large boxer breeder (not me) I have her grand daughter who has no heart murmur

It's common in boxers

Sometime in 3 /5 but more 4/5 they start fainting etc if over excited

Nothing really to worry about with such a low one as yours has

 

[Jingleballs]

My old boy was diagnosed with a grade 2 murmur last year.

We were told to look out more for coughing as a sign of problems.

He does pant a lot in general and we just try to keep him as cool as possible.

We haven't changed his exercise levels although they are decreasing anyway due to his age and arthritis but vet was totally unconcerned and said to just treat him as normal.

 

[Booboos]

Heart murmurs describe a variety of heart abnormalities and come in deferent severities. Betty was diagnosed with a 3/6 mitral valve murmur which our local vet thought gave her a 6 month life expectance. The specialist vets disagreed and with medication she lived another 7 years.

If you are concerned I would suggest you ask for a referral to a specialist centre for a detailed diagnosis.

 

[MinskiKaii]

2 of my 3 dogs have got heart murmurs. My old dog was diagnosed when she had her recent vaccination at the age of 11. Gizmo we got as a rescue at 6 months. His grade 5 hearts murmur was picked up a couple of days after we got his when he went into the vets because he was poorly. My vet who happens to be a heart specialist, said we could be very careful with him and he would probably live longer or give him a good quality of life and let him really do it. Unless he is poorly he has always done the same walks as the other 2 dogs done agility. He has started slowing down a bit at the age of 8, but for a dog we were told when we got him that if he lived any longer than 2 years he was doing well. I'm really pleased he's still going and enjoying himself. He takes beta blockers every day, he had his annual check up last week and they were still happy with him.

 

[suzysparkle]

Yes, our older Collie, who will be 6 soon has one. We've had him since a pup but it wasn't picked up until he was 2. Our vet wasn't concerned at all. He is very fit, athletic, slim and you would never guess. He happily goes on very long mountain bike rides, runs in harness with the huskies and chases anything anyone is willing to throw (and never gets bored). We don't do anything differently. If he put weight on easily we'd watch that but he doesn't.

Years ago we had a Lab who had a leaking valve in his heart. He was called upon by the Edinburgh vet college now and again for the students to see on scans as the condition was quite rare (they said). He lived a very active life and if I recall was put to sleep at 14. It was his heart that started to fail and it was very obvious. One day he was fine, the next he wasn't.

 

[Aru]

this page gives an excellent and factual breakdown on murmurs in dogs if you are interested. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2488

Not all murmurs are a cause for concern and a low grade murmur is usually not an issue but is sometime to monitor each year and check up's to see if its changing or not.

The reason that you were asked to watch out for a few different things..eg coughing particularily when lying down or in morning/evening,tiring easily,reluctance to walk as far as normal,weight loss but a rounded belly,excessive panting etc is as these can all be early warning signs of heart issues.
If he ever does experiencing issues in that regards there are many medications out there that can help and heart problem dogs can live long and happy lives.

Sodium restricted diets/restricted exercise etc are usually reserved for dogs in heart failure. A murmer does not mean heart failure and many dogs with murmurs live long lives with no heart trouble.

 

[Dry Rot]

I bred working dogs for many years and because of their reputation they were exported world-wide. These dogs were bred and trained to run at a gallop for long periods. For export, they had to be certified "fit to travel" before they went on the plane.

Almost without exception, the vet would do a double take when it came to listening to their hearts. I was told many times that they sounded abnormal but they couldn't be or they wouldn't have been able to work so hard! It got so I would warn the vet in advance! I never did get a logical explanation to that! But then I never had a dog drop dead from heart failure either, the problem was usually to stop them working!

One breeder was a doctor who was famous for the speed at which his dogs worked (in field trials). He always claimed he x-rayed the pups and selected for those with the biggest hearts. Doesn't a TB have a bigger heart than other breeds of horses? Sometimes "abnormal" just means "better"!

 

[Rebels]

We had a golden retriever who was diagnosed with a severe heart murmur at 6 months so vet advised no walks whatsoever. My mum decided a few weeks of an active life would be preferable so kept walking her. She lived un medicated until 13 when we lost her. Vet amazed and it was great to watch the reactions of locums...