# Zoey has a heart murmur??! What does this mean??



## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I have been there, and I know what you're feeling is a mix of panic and outrage. What you need is to get a good grading of the murmur. Does it sound like a waterfall in there to your vet( a 4/5), or is it a 1/2? This is going to make all the difference in understanding with what you are dealing.Many members here are successfully coping with heart murmurs. It is still not fun to be confronted by one. Did you tell your breeder? Did your pup's parents have heart clearances?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

What Ljilly is politely trying to say is that if it is a loud heart murmur( greater than II/VI) then it might be significant for the "dreaded" SAS, an inherited form of hear disease with varying severity.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Innocent puppy murmurs are very common, but as mentioned above, generally are not more that a Grade 1 or 2. Innocent murmurs virtually always disappear by 4 months of age.

I would ask the vet her thoughts regarding how she would grade the murmur. It does sound as though she thinks it is a higher level, or I assume she would not have recommended a specialist.

It is important to get an idea of the grade/severity of the murmur. I have had puppies with innocent murmurs and they have all disappeared by 4 months of age, with no ill effects at all.

What does your breeder say?


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## cprcheetah (Apr 26, 2009)

Sometimes they go away sometimes they don't it all depends on what is causing them. Where the parents health tested? Have you talked to the breeder at all to see if heart problems run in the lines? Here is a page that has some information about heart murmurs. It may not be anything to worry about or there could be something physically wrong with your puppy's heart

Heart Murmurs in dogs


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Not all heart murmurs are death sentences. As others have said it depends on the grade. Usually anything under a grade 3, they will out grow the murmur. My Cruiser is a grade 3 and has been since he was 8 weeks old. He is on no meds and has no restrictions. You should really take her to a cardiologist who specialize in this, to get a correct diagnoses.


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## Ironside (Feb 7, 2011)

Well, I assume it is not a 1 or 2 because she kinda explained to me that a lot of puppies have mild murmur's that are nothing to worry about.

In Zoey's case, she said it was "louder than she's comfortable with" so if THAT means it's a 3 or 4 or 5 or whatever I don't know (she never gave a number).

I e-mailed the breeder tonight because Zoey is supposed to be "fully guaranteed against heart, eyes or hip" problems for 1 year. I spoke with her about her 'guarantee' when we bought Zoey and she said you can either get a new puppy (out of the question) or get your money back.

I'm thinking I can use that money to help pay for the testing Zoey will most likely need... that is, IF the breeder actually gives us anything back (I just have this feeling she's not going to even contact me back let alone honor the deal)

I do have the guarantee in writing so she would be wise not to mess around lest she find a letter with my uncle's law firms letterhead in her mailbox.

When we bought Zoey her parents were both on-site and perfectly healthy with no genetic issues (at least we were told that, and they SEEMED healthy).

The breeder said the father had papers and the mother was REGISTERED but was not sold to her with the papers... come to think about it I dont remember ever SEEING any of those papers (I hope I didn't get screwed).

What are the worst case scenerios we are looking at here if it turns out she DOES have a more serious murmur? Is it something she can just LIVE with or is medical attention required?

What are some symptoms to watch out for if things turn for the worse?


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## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

Hopefully it is only a "puppy murmur". I was scared ***&less when my vet gave me similar information, only to find that the murmur was gone at the next check up. (She told me that I should let the breeder know about this "serious" murmur. I was totally freaked! I contacted my breeder, who calmed me down, since there were no heart problems in the line, and told me that she'd heard this from vets many times before. Sure enough!!


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## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

I think my Tinkerbell has the worst heart murmur on the forum at least currently. She was diagnosed at 9 weeks and confirmed at 6 months by ultrasound and cardiologist with a severe heart murmur (its a 5 on the scale of 1-6) due to the dreaded SAS. 

But she is going to be 5 in June, she is on heart meds but thats just something we live with. Everyone loves her because she is truly a people dog she a 10 pound lap dog trapped in a 70 pound golden retriever body. 

In my opinion I wouldn't pay for a specialist quite yet, Take Zoey back to the vet in a couple weeks and let her listen again. Murmurs can come and go and often do. Don't panic after just hearing it once. If necessary do go see a specialist. Regular vets even great ones do not usually have the experience to properly diagnose a heart condition.


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