I was just told by our vet that our 11 year old dachshund has a heart murmur,she said that on a scale from 1-6 it is a 3. Has anyone here have a pet that was diagnoses with it as well? The vet said that at least for now our dachshund would be fine without medication. Thanks in advance!
My dog was diagnosed with heart murmur @ about 1.5yrs old. Kinda odd because he had been to vet many times and nothing ever came of my being told that before during listening to his heart. Vet did "scare" me - talked about cardiac arrest & such; he too put it "up there on the 1-5 scale as a 3". I ended up about a year later switching vets (for whole diff reasons) -- the new vet never said nothing about it. Then one day out of the blue she did mention "did you know he has ... ? " During that visit, he was the weight he use to be (overweight). Just saying because it seems like his murmur is most obvious when he gets a lil weight gain on him. During his "slimmer visits" they don't ever mention about it if during a wellness exam. He's 10yrs old now & never had any issues healthwise from his murmur. So hoping same for your guy ....
Thanks for posting the info about yours,I'm glad he's doing fine! The last time our vet listened to her heart she didn't seem to hear anything either,I did read online somewhere that it also could be just from being overly excited,which in her case she always is very anxious when she has to go to the vet,she tries to hide under the chair and her breathing is faster than usual,she definitely is a bit of a worry wort! So yours never went on medication for it?
My mom's dog developed one at age 13. He didn't go on meds initially but the vet told us signs to watch for that would mean it was getting worse: excessive panting and coughing. That started happening and we took him back. Xray showed his heart was enlarged and we put him on meds. He's doing very well. He still plays like crazy!
Thanks PirateGirl for posting about it! It's good to hear that your mom's dog is doing better now that he's on the meds. Do you know how much $ approximatley it is for the meds? Thanks!
My previous cocker spaniel had one from when she was a puppy. She lived a long, active and happy life until cancer got her at 14. The heart murmur was never an issue. Our vet did advise we make sure she stayed active and not allow her to gain too much weight.
we were told my cat had a murmur by the specialist when they gave us second opinion for his cancer, he was 9 and died 10 days short of 15th birthday. i have a heart murmur also and never had any trouble either
My 12 yr. old cat Baily was diagnosed with a heart murmer and asthma atleast 8 or 9 years ago. He does take Prednisone when he is having a bad time with his asthma, but he's never had to take anything for the heart murmer.
Thanks Tassy,it must be quite common among dogs and cats to have a heart murmur,I'm relieved that it's something that they can live with! I got concerned the other day when I took her to Clemmons Park in Clayton and when we were on the way back and almost to the parking lot,she sat down and refused to move any further which is way I took her to the vet. The vet also said that she might have been just tired,after all she is 11 years old and much more used to laying on the couch then exercising. Maybe I will need to take shorter walks with her when going back to the park.
