Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog health - Ask members * If your pet is vomiting-bleeding-diarrhea etc. Vet time!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 28th, 2009, 09:21 AM
hdme hdme is offline
Formerly hgd24
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 63
Heart murmur

Our 9-10 yr old Aussie (rescued 7 yrs ago from an abusive home, so unsure of her exact age) has been diagnosed with a very mild heart murmur. The vet told us to watch for any signs of her activity level slowing or any coughing fits. Is there anything else we should know? I've never known anyone with a dog who has a heart murmur.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old April 29th, 2009, 01:20 AM
rjb's Avatar
rjb rjb is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: akron, oh
Posts: 9
Hey HD,

I have a 9 year old 55 lb. beagle mix that was recently diagnosed with a murmur and arythmia.

He's been thru the ultrasound and a few EKGs, and it's caused by deterioration of the mitral valves due to heart disease (there's a possibility that your dog could have been born with the murmur).

He's on heart meds for the arythmia, but there's nothing that can be done about the murmur. But according to the cardiologist, the disease typically progresses slowly. I don't know what "slowly" means in terms of time, and I don't think I want to know. I'm just keeping him active with moderate exercise and hoping for as much time as I can get.

So far, so good. He's slowed down a bit over the past year, not running as hard as he used to (which was the reason we got him checked out). But no coughing yet and he's definitely not turning down any opportunities to get out and about :-)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old April 29th, 2009, 01:22 AM
rjb's Avatar
rjb rjb is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: akron, oh
Posts: 9
oops accidentally posted twice..nothing to see here :-)

Last edited by rjb; April 29th, 2009 at 01:22 AM. Reason: double post
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old April 29th, 2009, 01:41 PM
hdme hdme is offline
Formerly hgd24
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 63
Thanks for the reply. The murmur was first detected last year either during her annual exam or her senior exam and was confirmed by another vet this week during her annual exam.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old April 29th, 2009, 11:21 PM
totallyhip's Avatar
totallyhip totallyhip is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC CANADA
Posts: 550
My boy has a heart murmur. They call it Cardiomyapathy or Boxer CRVC. It was caught early by me and then the vet confirmed it (after a 3rd listen to his heart and chastising me for being paranoid and me not being a vet!)
We had a 24 hour holter monitor test done several times and Echo Cardiogram done as well. It doesn't slow him down any. He is 6 years and acts like he is 6 months old! He is the most active out of all our dogs. Even more so than our puppy. WE give him a Solatol (beta blocker) pill 2x a day. He doesn't seem any different or act any different than our other dogs. He does cough a bit if he is running around alot. WE just keep an eye on him and make sure he slows down when we think he has had enough.
__________________
Owned By:
Han Solo - Male Flashy Fawn Boxer (RESCUE)
Chewie - Male White Boxer (RESCUE)
Lovey - Female Fawn Boxer (RESCUE)
Anakin - Male Brindle Boxer (RESCUE)

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi -

~Until there are none, rescue one ~

Boxer Rescue - www.rescueaboxer.com
Scentsy - www.ilovescents.ca
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:22 AM.