Heart murmur- older dog

[HopOnTrot]

Vet has picked up that my 12 year old terrier has a Grade 1 heart murmur, never picked up before until a month ago and heard again today by another vet. He’s at the vet every month for Librella injections so he’ll have his heart checked regularly. I know it’s probably just part of his aging but has anyone any experience of how it progresses?

He doesn’t do big energetic walks any more because of his arthritis but he still joins in shenanigans with the younger terror.

He’s literally the best dog in the world, I don’t want him to age

 

[Jenko109]

Some dogs have low grade heart murmurs from an early age and they go on for donkeys years.

I really wouldnt lose sleep over it.

 

[tda]

Agree, I don't think they generally progress, two of our terriers had them and never caused any issues, and they both went from other issues (mid teens)

 

[HopOnTrot]

He’s never had one before though and has his heart checked every year at least?

 

[EventingMum]

Our 13 yo terrier has a grade 2 murmur which hasn't progressed since diagnosis two years ago and he isn't medicated. My son's JRT is 11 and was diagnosed about 2.5 years ago. His is now grade 4 and he has a daily pill but still has no symptoms and is fairly active. We suspect it sounds worse when he is stressed visiting the vets as our equine vet listened to it at home and put it at a 2.5/3.

 

[Redders]

A new murmur in an older dog, if they were mine, I would have a specialist cardiac scan. All a murmur tells us is that there is turbulent flow in the heart and there can be several causes from that. The reason I would have a scan is because that can quantify what is causing the murmur, and also grade it, and the grading is importsnt from a medication point of view, for example, if it is mitral valve disease (very common in smaller/mid size breeds as they age) then there is a very good treatment for the remodelling that occurs but this is only indicated once they reach Grade B2, and can only know the grade with a scan. This medication is contraindicated in some other forms of heart disease (restrictive types). We simply don’t know the cause of the murmur without a scan.
Heart disease will always progress in to heart failure at some point, when is impossible to predict although scans can help to predict and pick up early signs of heart failure.
Heart failure will cause a back up of fluid in the lungs or around the lungs or both or in the abdomen, and it often presents as an emergency animal struggling to breathe, which is distressing for pet and owner, and needs emergency treatment. So having a scan and an idea of stage etc can be really beneficial. The medication isn’t just for prolonging life, it actually improves quality of life and length of life, and can reverse damage already caused to the shape of the heart, so knowing if it’s at the right stage to use it is helpful.
The loudness of a murmur (the grade) doesn’t always correlate with the severity of disease present, I have seen quiet murmurs advancing to heart failure in a short period of time (months) - seemingly fine one day and not the next.
Of course there are other heart diseases that cause a murmur, my point is that some have decent treatments available and no one can say what is causing the murmur without a scan. My personal choice with my own pets, would be to have a cardiac ultrasound.

HeartVets have some really good owner handouts available online for all sorts of heart related things, might be worth a look at them for info purposes

 

[HopOnTrot]

Thank you @Redders that gives me a basis for questioning the vet next month, he’s insured and HeartVets are actually fairly local to us so a referral could be possible if needed.

 

[Boulty]

I’d say if it’s a new murmur & it’s financially feasible to work it up a cardiologist scan is a really good idea so you know what you’re dealing with & whether treatment is needed atm / likely to be in near future so you can give him a really good QOL for as long as possible (but without putting him on meds if he doesn’t need them right now)