Heart Murmur

[Rhona]

I have not been here for a while and wondered if I could pick some brains please?

Sam is now 11 years old.  Apart from his dry eye problem which he has had for ever he keeps excellent health.  He is very active wee dog who still goes nuts when you bring out his lead for a walk

He had his three monthly check up for his opt immune today and the vet diagnosed a heart murmur and told my husband to bring him back next week.  There was no sign of the murmur three months ago.  She prescribed benazecare 28g one tablet twice a day.  He has to go back next Monday?  He has shown no other signs which would lead us to worry about his health.

I know from having a look online that murmurs have different gradings.  I don't know what his is at the moment.

i really am not sure what this really means though.  Is it a major concern or just part of him getting older.  Anybody got experience.

I am going to phone the vet but want to do so when my kids are not about

Sorry a bit of a ramble but have been a bit winded by this today :-(

[Ben's mum]

If you look at the Oldies section, you will see a couple of us have found out recently our golden oldies have heart murmurs. I was told in the middle of an emergency visit on Christmas morning when it came out of the blue and like you I was shocked.
However people on here put my mind at rest, and I have since spoken to my vet who assured me it's common in older dogs and not normally anything to worry about.

Hope Sam will be fine, I haven't seen any effects on Ben also 11, and I don't think I would have known about it if I hadn't had yo take him in for something else.

[Sheryl]

The first thing I would ask is what grade it is and then you can research further. Kali is almost 9 now and has a murmur but not enough to warrant medication yet. She also had an x ray to see how her heart looks. This is at the high end of normal (size wise) but still normal!

Main thing is....don't panic!

[Rhona]

Thank,you both.   Will see how he goes.  The medication she gave him his for heart failure which kind of freaks you out.   Just hate to thin he is ill

[elaine.e]

My first Cocker, Josh, was diagnosed with mild heart failure when he was 9 or 10, and then a couple of years later he was diagnosed with a heart murmur. It's a long time ago now and I can't remember what grade heart murmur it was, but it I know it was quite low. Josh was put on 2 different medications, both low dose, and stayed on them with no further problems for the rest of his life. He eventually died of old age when almost 17.

[PennyB]

Ruby was in congestive heart failure for past 3 years but to be honest with the meds she was fine and I never treated her differently - we were going to see a heart specialist but then she got diagnosed with this lump so in the end I didn't bother as it was going to be the lump that killed her. In Ruby's case she just coughed with the congestion and fluid on her lungs but that was solved with the frusemide (she was on another med for the heart failure)

Wiif (nearly 12) has a murmur, which they picked up at Langford last year when he was in for something else and he saw a cardiologist who said he didn't need treatment for it  he has since had teeth out without problems

Medication these days is very good and I feel you go with the flow with your dog - it does sound scary but once you know what you're dealing with, your dog can have a good quality of life - both of mine did (you should see Wilf trying to keep up with Stella & Bosley sometimes).

I thought it was the end for Ruby but she told me it wasn't