topic Re: Heart murmurs in dogs in Community Spirit

Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:21:13 GMT

My nearly 10yo Chi/Mini foxie x has just been diagnosed with a grade 5 heart murmur. Chronic Heart Failure.

How can that be? She doesnt seem to have any symptoms.

Anyone else been through this? Will the heart meds help?

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:23:30 GMT

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear this

I'm afraid I don't know the answer but thinking of you and your darling furbaby

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:27:27 GMT

Thanks enigma ♥ Its all a bit of a shock. She was a grade 1 murmur at last years annual check up, this year its a grade 5. Very fast progression i think 😞

I guess the shock is that she is so active, a good weight and absolutely no symptoms.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

lyndal1838 — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:40:11 GMT

My 13 year old corgie suffered from a similar problem many years ago. He had a good year from the time he was diagnosed.

He was treated by the Sydney University Vet clinic and it was nearly 50 years ago so I am sure the treatment has improved in all that time.

He was living with my parents at the time and they did not tell me what was wrong in case he did not make it. They always brought him with them when they came for the weekend and I really did not notice anything wrong....I just thought it was old age and he was just slowing down.

Just 6 weeks before he died he was lying in front of the heater looking at my new baby daughter having a wriggle on the floor.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

davidc4430 — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:46:13 GMT

i dont know anything about heart murmurs but there are lots of articles about them if you google.

i just googled 'grade 5 heart murmur in dogs' and found heaps.

http://metro-vet.com/my-pet-was-diagnosed-with-a-heart-murmur-what-does-that-mean/

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 06:03:36 GMT

Thanks david. I have googled. The vet also wrote down mitral regurgitation.

I guess the burning question is the prognosis. How long?

Thanks Lyndal for your candour with your beautiful corgi, I hope Millie gets more than a year.

I was hoping for at least 7 more.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

davidc4430 — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 06:58:54 GMT

every living thing has its time, i hope your little dog has a good life if not a long life.

when my brother had cancer we asked 'how long'

he said 'how long is a piece of string'

no mater how long its never enough.

fingers crossed the meds give you longer than you would have without them and theres no suffereing.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

happyroo_bunji — Sat, 17 Sep 2016 12:32:49 GMT

My dog has a grade 3 heart murmur, thankfully not on medication yet, I just have to keep an eye on her. She will be 10yo in February and been as healthy as anything except for itchy skin. It's been a bit of a shock as I lost my last dog in an accident when she was 10yo, and was worried I'd lose Maggie.

I'm sorry I can't answer any of your questions, I just want to let you know someone is thinking of you and your dog at this time.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

amalan11 — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 10:54:21 GMT

You may have longer than expected. My little lady ,a mini foxie had a very bad heart murmer from 12 yrs old.I was told with the meds she may have a couple of years..she passed away 2 weeks off 19.

Just be very helpful and keep an eye on your dog that it takes it easy ,I found Cricket could not walk constantly so got a stroller so she could ride to the park and just explore at her own pace .

good luck with it ,its stressful but with good care you can have them for many years.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 06:49:31 GMT

Thank you happyroo. The ten year mark seems to be a thing for us as well. We lost our lab to mast cell tumour at age 10.

I have never had a little dog before but wow, she just won everyone,s heart. Our next challenge is getting the tablets into her.

She is sharp as a tack.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 06:50:53 GMT

Music to my ears Amalan. Thank you!

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

davidc4430 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:07:46 GMT

can you crush them then mix in with condensed beef soup? not a whole can, just enough to disguise the taste.

or try different flavours.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:09:28 GMT

I have no idea how we are going to get two tablets a day into her. She is the houdini of tablets.

Chewable, he said Silly me just offered it to her. No way Jose.

Then it was cunningly disguised in a piece of chicken.Chicken gobbled up and tablet neatly flicked out the side.

In the food, lone tablet left in the bowl

Daughter suggested cheese but with another bit in the hand so that she is focussed on the next bit. Worked this morning. Not tonight.

Aghh! She is too smart. Its not nice having to shove it down her throat. Any ideas? Can they be trained to accept tablets do you think?

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:11:45 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
can you crush them then mix in with condensed beef soup? not a whole can, just enough to disguise the taste.

or try different flavours.

Thanks David, will try. These are supposed to be given on an empty stomach but we have buckleys with that. Unless the down the throat thing.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

lyndal1838 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:12:48 GMT

My Westie was on Chemotherapy and had regular tablets that we were not supposed to touch so getting them into him with the least possible struggle was important.

I found the best way was to hide them in his favourite foods (without him seeing it being done) and then give it to him making him think it was all very exciting. He usually swallowed it in one gulp so the tablets went down very easily.

He loved mushrooms, cauliflower, BBQ chicken and steak so it was quite easy to find things that would go down easily. Avoid anything that the dog will have to chew but that i highly flavoured. If all else failed I used one of his own treats...preferably something soft to avoid chewing.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

lyndal1838 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:17:53 GMT

Another thing that I found successful was to coat the tablet in soft boiled egg yolk....that was enough to disguise the smell of the tablet and if given when he was being given other small "treats" he just did not notice.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:37:26 GMT

Thanks Lyndal. It is definitely the smell I think that she picks up on.

She doesn't like any of the smackos type stuff or treats either.

I can fool Lexi with the high voice and 'present' offering. Millie, although greedy, just wont come at it.

Will try different strong foods as a disguise for sure.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

lyndal1838 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:47:19 GMT

Try a bit of mince....beef or chicken should work....make sure the tablet is completely covered with no hint of a space for the smell to escape. Don't use too much or the dog will be tempted to chew. A bit of ham may work too as it has a fairly strong smell of it's own.

If all else fails you can get devices from the Vet to give animals a tablet....it certainly saves the fingers. We were given one for the cat but found out that she really prefered to swallow the tablets from my fingers...she ended up really good at it. She never came to me for the medication but once I picked her up she decided that I was going to win the battle so she gave in gracefully. The vet was very impressed at how good she was.

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

ten*teeny*tiny*toes — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 07:57:08 GMT

We had one of those pill poppers for Max the Magnificent,

I found tonight when I picked Millie up she was all arms and legs and in flight mode and she loves cuddles.

The vet did say there was a liquid form.

I have a vague recollection of trying to get liquid medicine down toddlers throats lol. Much the same!!

Re: Heart murmurs in dogs

lyndal1838 — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 08:29:31 GMT

From experience I would not use liquids till all else has failed....they can be very messy and you really cannot tell how much she has been able to spit out.

I was just talking to my daughter, a Vet nurse and owner of guard dogs. There was no way she was going to toy with those teeth to give tablets so she just dipped them in the molasses that she had for the horses and they disappeaed very quickly.

She has suggested some honey but not every day or you will turn the dog into a diabetic....not recommended on top of her current problems.