Heart Murmur advice - terrier

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Twinkletoes

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Hi all
My lovely 2 year old Border terrier x Daschund (yes I know, it was an accident but a brilliant one at that) went to the vets for his booster yesterday & was diagnosed with a heart murmur. The vet was not overly concerned about it and as he knows this sensitive little dog well already, said not to change anything about his lifestyle, at this stage in his life. Does anyone have a dog with this condition, and realistically what implications does this have? He is a very quiet well behaved terrier, with manners to burn and has 3 long walks a day with his crazed border terrier brother (not related actually but they think they are). Thanks x
 
No experience of this.. but hugs to you and poochie...

Sometimes these conditions do eliminate themselves over time. xx
 
My mums JR had one - diagnosed at about 3yrs old. He was completely wappy, never slowed down and was never given drugs. Vet said it was only mild and it was negligable whether drugs would make a difference. He was PTS at 15 due to old age only. He lived a full and happy life with no outward signs of the problem.
 
Hi- see my post!
My 13 year old bearded collie x lurcher- plus a bit of everything else! lol -has just been diagnosed with this also!
My vet said that it can range from level 1 through to 6 i think! six being deaths door! my dog is a 2!! so vet really not worried!
I have a heart murmur as well- it has never affected me! i used to go to the hospital for regular check ups until i was about 15 years old- then they said it was fine!
I really wouldnt worry- my vet didnt advise any changes in lifestyle!
To be honest- as horrible as it sounds i would rather she dropped dead one day running around and enjoying herself. I would hate to have to restrict her activities!
Good luck and hope it all goes well!
 
brothers staffy had one, he was advised to only let her lead a quiet life. He decided that her life was more about quality and didn't change anything. That was 10 years ago. She is still going strong.
 
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brothers staffy had one, he was advised to only let her lead a quiet life. He decided that her life was more about quality and didn't change anything. That was 10 years ago. She is still going strong.

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This was exactly my parents philosophy. Try telling a JR to 'lead a quiet life'!! If they live only 5 years and have fun thats far better than 10 years being on a lead or cooped up inside.
 
Are you definitely sure? The only reason I'm saying this is because I saw a new vet at the practice I go to, and she detected an irregular heartbeat on my dog and referred me to the specialist. So, we went, had an ECG, and lo and behold, my dog was determined as being strong as an ox and with a perfectly healthy heart.

Sometimes, nerves contribute to what is apparently a murmur, but is nothing more than a rapid or irregular heartbeat through nerves.

Just throwing the suggestion out there.
 
A heart murmur is just an abnormal sound heard when listening to the heart with a stethoscope and can occur for a number of different reasons and have very different prognoses.
When listening to the heart in the dog it should have 2 distinct sounds - supposedly lub dup...lub dup....etc. When animals have murmurs the sounds become less distinct and can even sound like a general whooshing sound.
The most common cause of a murmur in dogs is endocardiosis - a degenerative condition of the major heart valves - this usually occurs in old age, with the exception of the CKCS where it seems to occur from middle age. It could also be present due to a congenital abnomality such as aortic stenosis in the boxer or a septal defect for example. Sometimes the murmur can be present with no signs of congestive heart failure (CHF) and no treatment is required or it can show a full range of symtoms - usually coughing (especially at night time) but also ascites (fluid in the abdomen) or syncope (fainting) and poor exercise tolerance. The decision as to whether the dog needs treatment or not is really down to the degree of CHF and not the severity of the murmur. A dog could have a grade 5 murmur all its life and never develop CHF or a dog could develop a grade 2 and be coughing and fainting etc.
Dysrythmias are a completely different problem altogether - basically a irregularity of the rythm of the beat with a normal lub dup as opposed to a whooshing sound. These also vary in severity and symptoms. My previous dog had a sinus arrythmia which is very common - so common its thought of as normal - this is where the heart speeds up and slows down in time to the breathing pattern and usually disappears with exercise. A general rule is that if the beat is regularly irregular it is usually a benign phenomenon and if it is irregularly irregular or chaotic then it needs investigation.
 
not a dog, bt my cat has a heart murmur and vet wasn't worried either. she gets checked to see how it's doing but just on normal check ups, we don't go to the vet specifically for that.
it's gone away a lot since she was a kitten
smile.gif

he'll be fine, don't worry!
 
Just to add to the various list of animals with heart murmurs - I have a horse with one. He is 28 now and it was diagnosed about 2 years ago. He is retired now anyway, but the chances are he has had it for most of his life and I never knew. He's always been fit and healthy. I actually also prefer the idea of him just dropping in the field one day rather than the long drawn out illness horses/dogs tend to suffer from.
 
Mums old spaniel was diagnosed with a major heart murmur at 16 weeks and the vet said not to expect her to live much past 3. 13 years later she had to be put to sleep following several brain bleeds but despite the vet being gobsmacked that she she was still alive everytime she went for a checkup, there were never any signs that she was poorly apart from going a bit blue after a long run.
 
Thanks everyone. Think the fact he is just over 2 and has this was a worry at first but like you say, better to live life to the full than go through it worrying about what may or may not happen. Really appreciate all your shared thoughts.
 
We had a border collie that was diagnosed with a heart mumor. We found out after that the majority of the litter had also got them apart from 1 sister which we also had.
We were told that Bonnies mumor was so bad she wouldnt live past 12 months. She couldnt have any operations as she wouldntve survived the GA. She had injections to stop her seasons. Bonnie led an active live and was always on the thin side whatever amount of food she ate. In the end she out live her sister who died of lymphatic cancer at the age of 6. We had to have her put down in the end as she got very poorly with her heart etc but she was 8.
 
My parent's older dog (11 I think) has a heart murmer, diagnosed a few years ago now. So far it doesn't seem to have affected him at all TBH. He's gradually slowing down now, but then he is an older dog and is 12 this summer, but nothing to do with the heart prob. Vet actually says he's in great shape.
 
My mums old spaniel who is now 16!! has everything wrong with him and also yes a heart mumur....does not seem to effect him and most older dogs will have heart mumurs...my cousin rescued a puppy only to find it had a heart problem and she paid out for an op to have a heart pacer.
I do not think you will find any difference really...maybe puffing a little more but my mum spaniel is still as stubborn as ever....
 
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