# What does a heart murmur sound like?



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I believe that a heart murmur is more like thump--swish--thump--swish---like a valve not closing completely, allowing the blood to leak backwards.


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## buckeyegoldenmom (Oct 5, 2008)

Its a soft blowing or rasping sound heard with a stethoscope. In humans, two of the valves closing give a "lubb" sound, the other two give a "dubb" sound. A murmur is heard when one of the valves does not close tightly.

I have never tried to listen to my dogs...but I would think it would give a similar sound if there was a murmur. And really the more you hear murmurs in practice the easier it is to pick up on one. ( talking as an old CCU RN here.)


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Danny's heart didn't even thump. It just whooshed. There was a very obvious issue, even to the layperson (me) when I would put my hand on his chest.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2488&S=1

Includes wave files of heart sounds.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

PG you are a wealth of information, thanks!


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## Bogey's Mom (Dec 23, 2008)

PG! Always coming through! Thanks guys, this is helpful. I revisited the issue early this morning when he was still sleeping and hadn't been active for several hours. I think that the weird thumps are coming when he is inhaling, which, according to the internet, is normal. But he'll be at the vet soon to get some more shots, and I'll have her listen again. 

Why am I such a paranoid mommy???


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## fameb (Feb 10, 2009)

My guy had a strange squeaky sound when he was a pup.

The Cardiologist explained it to me, and told me to have a listen with her Stethoscope. It went something like Thump...Thump...Thump...Squeak..Thump. He has Mild Mitral Valve Dysplasia, so the squeak is the dysplasic valve regurgitating. Usually it's the same thing but with a swoosh sound with heart murmur

Strange thing is the last couple times we went to the vet...None of the vets in the office could hear the Heart Murmur anymore. When the dyplasia is permanant...So I'm planning to go back to the Cardiologist soon. Hoping it was a misdiagnosis.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

My unscientific explation from my vet giving me lessons in listening is that a normal heart sounds crisp and a grade 4ish sounds like a waterfall, lol. That's the only way I can put it into words.


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## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

Tinkerbell's heart definitley whooshes, I honestly can't say I've ever really heard a normal thump out of it. Plus it is often pretty irregular. If you put your hand on her chest, you can feel it is not right. And when she is sleeping...you can often see it is not right. Of course her murmur is almost a 5 and is caused by SAS.


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