My collie has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur :(

[ru-fi-do]

Just been to the vets with my collie, over the past few months he has been running after his ball as normal but getting tired quicker and his back end and back legs giving way, the past few days he has also had a cough and his tongue has a blueish tinge. The vet has found quite a prominent heart murmur and has said he would like to refer him to a very good cardiologist that is in the area. He has also lost weight although his appetite seems to have got bigger. He is insured with Tesco so i'm going to give them a call tomorrow and check they will cover him. He will be 9 years old in a couple of weeks. I feel like my head is all over the place!
Has anyone had any experiences?

 

[Goya]

Sorry--no experiences but just to say sorry to hear this and hope you get something sorted.

 

[ru-fi-do]

Sorry--no experiences but just to say sorry to hear this and hope you get something sorted.

Thank you Goya x

 

[devonlass]

No help either here I'm afraid,but just wanted to say fingers crossed that insurance will cover what he needs,and will be holding a good thought for you both

 

[ru-fi-do]

Arr thank you devonlass. x

 

[Native Speaker]

Sorry, no experience here, either.

But sending some healing <<<<<vibes>>>>> for your dog. And a few (((((hugs))))) for you, too. Sounds like you could use them.

Hope you get a good response from your insurers as well.

 

[Oenoke]

My old BC got diagnosed with a heart murmer Oct 2008, aged 13, it was only slight and he didn't go on any medication until Oct 2009, Vetmedin, he had just been put on Frusecare Apr 2010, but actually had a stroke the very next day and unfortunately I had to have him pts aged 15 years 9 months. He never collapsed due to his heart, but he did have a bit of a cough, he played until the day he died, although he did have a bit of arthritis in his last year that slowed him up a bit.

Boomer 2 weeks (the last pic of him) before he went to the bridge.

 

[tori252]

My lurcher was diagnpsed at around 10 and lived until 18. Changed diet to barf feeding and he just got fitter and fitter. Vet was amazed. .... But at 18 he collapsed...,still miss him

 

[orionstar]

My late bullie was diagnosed at 7 years old with a very prominent heart murmur but as he wasnt showing any signs of distress - yawning, tiredness etc the vet decided not to medicate. He got slightly slower the older he got but still showed no signs until the day he got overly exited playing with a GSD on the beach and unfortunatly we lost him. We changed his diet and tried to ensure he didnt get overly exerted and if he had shown any signs of the heart defect we would have medicated him. He was 10 and had a good innings all that time. Its manegable and your dog probably has a good few years yet. Big Huggs.

 

[Dobiegirl]

No experience but just wanted to give my support and hope for a happy outcome for your dog.

 

[MinskiKaii]

Our mini jack russell was diagnosed with a grade 5 heart murrmur at 6 months, within a couple of days of us getting him. Lukily my vet is the heart specialist that the local vets refer to, so he was treated at our vets.

He was found to have narrowing in 2 of the arteries in his heart. He was put on and is still on Atenolol (betablockers. He sometimes just sits and stares in the house and doesn't look so good so he gets a couple of days rest. But in general he does exactly what our other does.

He also coughs reguarly and collapses out on walks at least once a week when he gets too excited. He stops dead then his legs go to jelly and just stands there. If he tries to move he ends up flat on his side with his legs stuck straight out. Luckily he is small enough to pick up if he goes down in the middle of the road. And some times if I'm worried I'll pick him up before he gets too hyped.

Initially the vet get him 2 years then we would see how he went, but he's now 7 and still going, bless him.

Obviously as he was diagnosed so soon after getting him, the insurance doesn't cover the costs.

I hope everything goes well x

 

[Galupy]

No experience but just wanted to give my support and hope for a happy outcome for your dog.

^ Couldn't have said it better myself so I won't even try. Hope you and your little collie have the great outcome some of the other dogs on this thread have had.

 

[Bosworth]

My old dog was diagnosed with a heart murmur 5 years ago at the age of 11. I had moved house to Devon and at a routine visit my new vet said,'oh his heart murmur' seems to be stable'. I never knew he had a heart murmur. Apparantly it was in his vet notes from when he was 6 months old at my previous practice and they had never said anything to me, which was really odd as I was told he had petit mal epilepsy when he was only 6 months old. But no one had said anything about aheart murmur. Bosworth died this year, at 16 years old. His heart was a little sloppy at the end but at 16 that was to be expected. He never in his life had heart medicine and only slowed down in the last couple of months. Try not to panic at the moment, there are loads of grades of heart murmurs and many things the vets can do to give him quality of life.

Good luck and I wish you many more years with your dog.

 

[Booboos]

I am so sorry to hear about your dog, but try not to worry too much until you see the specialist and get a full report. "Heart murmur" is a very general term and it can vary from no treatment and no effect on the dog at all, to a very serious condition.

Betty was diagnosed with a mitral valve defect at 9 (she is now 15). Her only symptom was a cough. Coughs can be caused by fluid in the lungs but in her case it was a mechanical problem, her enlarged heart was pressing on her trachea and making her cough so all we did for that is change her collar for her harness. Her mitral murmur is now at 5/6 and she has an aortic murmur at 4/6 as well now, but she still has no clinical signs. She is on 6 different medications (Vetmedin, Fortecore, Prilactone, Amilodipine, Corvental, and Incurine for incontinence!) but it's worth it as it has really prolonged her life following a really serious diagnosis. An operation to repair the defect is also an option but in dogs over 10kgs.

Jakey also has a mitral valve defect but his is so minor he has not needed any treatmetn in the last 3 years since diagnosis (he is now 14).

Best of luck with the specialist, you are doing the best you could possibly do by seeing a specialist cardiologist.

 

[ru-fi-do]

Wow! Thank you for all your replies and well wishes

MinskiKaii, that does sound very much the same as Chippy, he has had the odd cough mainly in a morning but it's not all the time. The problem with him is he is a collie and doesn't understand he needs to slow down! So for the time being it will be flexi lead walks only.
What diet do you all recommend? At the moment he is on Arden grange, which he and his brother have been thriving on. He has lost quite a bit of condition and has a dull coat so it is worrying me that there is a bit more going on in there. I have read to avoid salty food but to be fair our dogs hardly get tit bitted.
Typically I'm going on holiday tomorrow down south for a week and my friend is looking after them for, so my vet is arranging for me to take him to the specialist as soon as I get back, I feel awful going away and leaving him but the vet assured me that a week shouldn't make much of a difference and my friend is on strict instructions to take him if needed.
I will update everyone as soon as i have news. Thanks again for all your wishes xxx

 

[ru-fi-do]

She is on 6 different medications (Vetmedin, Fortecore, Prilactone, Amilodipine, Corvental, and Incurine for incontinence!) but it's worth it as it has really prolonged her life following a really serious diagnosis. An operation to repair the defect is also an option but in dogs over 10kgs.

Best of luck with the specialist, you are doing the best you could possibly do by seeing a specialist cardiologist.

That's a lot of medication! Is the medication quite pricey? x

 

[Booboos]

That's a lot of medication! Is the medication quite pricey? x

Very! About 2-2.5k a year! Plus ultrasounds and tests every six months!

 

[Queenbee87]

One of my childhood dogs had a heart murmur. Vet said on a scale of 1-5 it was a 4. He didn't show any signs of it (that I remember- I was fairly young). He was a terrier cross and lived until he was 18 which was several years after it was diagnosed. He wasn't on any medication either.

Hope it's good news when you see the specialist. Try not to worry too much while you're away

X

 

[Boulty]

Hey there, my little Cavi was diagnosed with a heart murmur maybe around 5 and a bit years ago (just about inevitable given her breed!) just during a routine examination. It was around maybe 8 months or so before she started showing clinical signs (coughing and lethargy) which she decided to start with whilst we were on holiday! She was started on medication, just the one to start with but she's now on 4 different ones (furosemide, vetmedin, fortekor and prilactone) for her heart (that's along with all her painkillers for her arthritis and spondylosis and her optimune for her dry-eye, thank god for insurance!). Anyhow she's still going strong at 12 1/2, well her heart is anyway can't say the same for her poor old legs! After all the meds kicked in she was like a different dog, wanting to play and interested in going for walks again (even took her to the beach a few times which she loved!). She did loose a few kilos, but in her case it was a good thing as we'd been battling with her weight for years, when she got a bit too thin we increased her food a bit and she has eventually stabilized at an ok weight. Anyway good luck and fingers crossed for you!