Heart Murmurs

[Charlie_boy]

Hi everyone i was wondering if anybody could help me. A friend of mine has a bearded collie who is around 9 years old. On a recent trip tot eh vets (for something else) they found she has a heart mumur at grade 3. Could any body tell me how this will effect her in her future? I have looked online for info on it and it all just seems a bit doom and gloom to be honest. I had a dog with a heart murmur but she never needed any medication for it at all so im not sure what happens with a grade 3. Now he cant ask the vet because it's his ex girlfiend who the dog lives with so she is the one who speaks to the vet and at times she can be a little strange with my friend so this is why i am asking all of you I hope some one can shed a bit of light as my friend is understandably up the wall with worry about Kira (his dog)

Thank you in advance

Sharon and Charlie

[elegy]

is the vet planning to do any kind of cardiac workup to find out more information about how the murmur is affecting his heart and his whole body? i'd want an ekg, x-rays, and an ultrasound if it were my dog. depending on the results, medication may be in order. a trip to see an actual cardiologist would be the best.

some dogs can have heart murmurs and never have a problem. others can have significant heart disease and no murmur.

good luck to your friend and to kira!

[Kris]

I *think* (I'm not a vet so take it with a grain of salt please) that the concern is if the murmur is new. If the dog has had a murmur for most of it's life then it's not a problem although it may be a complication if other disease is present; but if it's a new murmur it indicates a serious change in health.

Good luck,
Kris

[britishbandit]

My old Papillon had a severe heart murmur and was on medication from the age of about 4 on, on top of his heart being weak. He had more trouble with it all as he aged, but lived on to be 14.

I'm not sure exactly how bad grade 3 is, but it's likely he'll need some form of medication.

[bigdoglover]

I'm with Elegy on this one. I had a pup with a Grade 4 heart murmer, and she passed away at the age of 4 months old.

I would definitely have a complete workup done.

[Cassiepeia]

My dog (16yrs old) has a severe heart murmur and is on medication for it. He was diagnosed just recently and despite a few problems he's now doing well and you wouldn't even know anything was wrong with him apart from a bit of a cough occasionally.
I'd definately talk to the vet about medication options and becareful if they prescribe two different heart meds because that caused a lot of problems with my guy. He's now only on one heart med.

Anyway..just wanted to tell you that it's not all doom and gloom. Dogs with severe murmurs can live comfortable and even happy lives. You just have to find out what's going on and medicate it correctly.

Cass.

[Charlie_boy]

Thank you everyone for your replys. I am not sure if Kira is getting further tests or not but i hope she is. As i said its difficult for my friend to get answers from his ex about it. I will pass on all the information though as i am sure he will be relieved by knowing it is not all doom and gloom and things can be helped along even with severe heart murmurs.

Thank you again

Sharon and Charlie

[theGOOCH]

With people and dogs heart murmurs can be serious or non-serious. I don't know what a grade 3 is. Sometimes the dog (or person) can have it their whole life, but it isn't heard until later for some reason.

I have a mild heart murmur and it was never heard until I was in my 20's. I was having a bout with asthma and most asthma meds are stimulants that raise your heart rate and BP making a murmur sound more pronounced. Is there a reason the dogs heart rate would be up? New meds maybe?

[linnie]

when they say grade 3 it can be 3 out of 10 or 3 out of 6
my girl had a grade 4 out of 6 and I had ultrasounds etc done.
She was one sick little girl but with proper meds ( vetmedin was hers)
she lived for another 3 years.
( RIP my darling Chloe )

[gracie]

When I had my precious Benji, he was diagnosed with a heart murmur around 12 and the vet said it was senseless to put him through surgery at the time, so he didn't treat him at all. Benji lived until he was 16 which was over his breed's life span.
My Daisy, was diagnosed with a slight heart murmur a couple of years ago at 5 years old. She is 7 now, and she is fine...no medication.

[Charlie_boy]

Thank you again for all your replys. It does seem to really depend on teh murmur its self adn the dog doesn't it? Gooch there is no reason at all that Kiras heart rate would be up at the moment. Apart from this she has been a really healthy dog all her 9 years. I guess it may be just one of those things that can happen .
Linnie i'm sorry about your poor Chloe but at least you got to share those last 3 years together!!
Gracie, Benji sounds something similar to my Millie when she was alive. Although they found her heart murmur when she was really young then later in life (around the age of 12) she was diagnosed with cushings disease but still mamanged to live until she was 17 1/2. it's so hard when these furkids get ill, makes you feel really useless at times dont you think.

Sharon and Charlie