Is there anything a vet can do for a dog with a heart murmor? Are there any specialists the dog can go to?

Question

I took my 12 year old dog to the vet today and the vet said he's got a heart murmor. Is there any specialists I can take him too? I know he's old and he'll die soon but if it can be fixed I wanna fix it.

Answer 1

Most heart murmurs aren't harmful in dogs or in people. If it is causing a problem, your vet can refer you to a specialist if necessary. Usually it's not.

I would call the vet and see if the murmur is potentially dangerous. I think it will put your mind at peace to know. Usually if the murmur is potentially dangerous, the vet will prescribe medication to reduce the workload of the dog's heart. If your vet did not then it's likely that all that will be necessary is to keep a check on it periodically to be sure that if it progresses he can catch any problems and treat them before they become life threatening.

The best thing about knowing that a dog has a heart murmur is that you now know to take steps which will potentially strengthen the dog's heart. Keep the dog lean by feeding it appropriately, see that it gets adequate moderate exercise, and don't exercise it strenuously when it's beastly hot.

Answer 2

You can talk to your vet and ask them if they can refer you to a specialist for this problem. They usually also offers. I know when I took my dog to the vet for her athritis they did all that they could do and the next step would be to see a specialist, but I decided not to but instead just let her enjoy herself doing what she always does sleeping on my sofa and cuddling with me or my boyfriend' boxe. I don't know where you live but where I live in New England they have a specialty care center of new england that specializes in certain things. Here's the link if you live in this area:

http://www.vescone.com/about-vescone/about-vescone.htm


But the best thing to do is to definately ask your vet for a referral. Or you can also call around to different vets and see if someone specializes in heart murmors (but that's really time consuming so..).

Good Luck.

Answer 3

I have a dog with a heart problem and my vet refered me to a Cardiologist(heart specialist). They have done a few EKG's and she has also worn a Hoilter Monitor (24 hour Ekg) twice. They put her on heart medication that she takes twice a day. The pills are actually for humans that I get at the drug store. Ask your vet if there is a specialist near you. The one I went to was only about an hour away from my home. I wish you and your dog all the best.

Answer 4

Heart murmors are repaired in puppy's all the time, but I would think that in a 12 year old dog it would require a heart valve replacement which is very different from closing a puppy valve. Even if someone was making heart valves for dogs, I would think the price would be prohibitive.

Answer 5

Ask your vet if there is a Board Certified Veterinary Cardiologist in your area. They are the best in diagnosing and treating heart problems in pets. We had an ultrasound done of our dachshund's heart by a veterinary cardiologist when our regular vet detected a murmur. He passed away almost five years later at 16 of conditions having nothing to do with his heart.

This link may help. http://www.acvim.org/Specialist/Search.aspx

Answer 6

Dogs can have heart murmur for different reasons. There are some that are congenital, arising from birth that go away over time as fetal "abnormalities" dissipate (different vessels are present in the fetus and these vessels close after birth). There are valve abnormalities that are present at birth, that are significant enough to require treatment. Treatment can be either medical or surgical.

Surgical replacement of a valve is not inexpensive and there are many risks such as rejection of the implant, endocarditis, embolism, etc. Many of these dogs require monitoring and hospitalization for a length of time, medications, and recheck exams. These surgeries are mainly done in your large specialty hospitals. Some that I know do these surgeries are on the East cost - Angell and Tufts (sp) University. The implant or replacement valve comes from pigs (they are also used in human valve replacement surgeries as well).

If the murmur was not present at birth or in young age, then the murmur can be due to endocarditis, or degeneration of the original valve. Some breeds have a genetic predisposition to valve disease and cardiac disease. If the murmur is due to endocarditis, surgery is an option, however if it is due to degeneration, it may not be (this would need to be decided by a cardiologist and/or surgeon).

If your dog is not showing any clinical signs of his disease and you want to seek surgical intervention, do it now! Once the dog starts experiencing clinical sign of its disease (congestive heart failure) anesthesia becomes too much of a risk and there are usually other changes in the heart such as ventricular enlargement that make valve replacement less successful.

The first step is to be referred to a cardiologist. Many large specialty hospitals have them and almost all veterinary universities have them. They will take chest radiographs, do an EKG, perform an echocardiogram, and take blood pressure readings. They may also want to run some blood tests to make sure nothing else is wrong. You also want to make sure you dog is negative for heartworm disease as it also causes heart disease, congestive heart failure and death. I know my estimate for my first cardiologist consult was between $600-800 and may be more depending on your location, equipment used, and degree of specialty of the cardiologist.

Once the procedures are done, the cardiologist can tell you the primary source of the murmur, if there are any physical and functional changes to the heart and if this is affecting other organ systems in the body. They can help you decide is surgery is an option or if medical treatment would be better warranted.

I adopted a miniature poodle that was sent to the humane society by the daughter of the owner who developed Alzheimer's and had to live with her daughter. The daughter hated dogs. This little guy, Jake, had a 5-6/6 systolic heart murmur due to mitral valve insufficiency. I adopted him and ended up able to enroll him in a study at Purdue University for a short time. He successfully completed the study and while there we got to know the cardiologist.

About a year later I took Jake for a check up with the cardiologist because he was coughing more (he also has collapsing trachea so it was difficult to determine if the heart disease was causing it). We ended up placing him on benazapril for hypertension, spironolactone and lasix (both diuretics). Six months later we went back for our recheck and he had to be placed on digoxin. A month later he seemed to be coughing a little so we increased his doses. My referring veterinarian (who does some cardiology cases but is not a specialist) told me about a drug not FDA approved in the US called Pimobendan. I called the cardiologist to talk to him about it and he agreed it would be something we could put him on. So, we mail ordered it and he's been on it since March of 2006. To date his findings by the cardiologist are significant mitral valve regurgitation, tricuspid valve regurgitation, and enlargement of both ventricles.

My dog is now 14 (I adopted him at the age of 11 mind you), is on 5 heart medications (Digoxin, lasix, spironolactone, benazapril, and pimobendan) twice daily and eats a low sodium, low protein, low potassium diet of Hills Science Diet h/d. He is doing wonderful! I wouldn't trade money for anything else. The meds are for the most part inexpensive - digoxin being the most expensive. I love my little dog and am glad I can keep him comfortable with his disease.

You may not be able to fix your dog, but you can certainly manage his disease and give him many more years. Just be very diligent in medicating, knowing the signs of his disease, make your recheck appointments and go earlier if you think something is wrong, and have a good relationship with your cardiologist.

Answer 7

Yes, there are veterinary specialists. Just give your vet a call, and ask him to refer your dog to a specialist.

Answer 8

I don't know where you live but, I live in Pa. I always take my dogs with serious problems to Metropolitan Veterinarian Hospital. Good Luck, I have an eight year old that just had major surgery. People thought I was nuts to put thousands in to him. I don't care what they think, go with your heart and Good Luck!!!!!!

Answer 9

You can be referred to a vet cardiologist and they can give you a better idea about what is going on and IF it can be fixed. Chances are it is not something that can be REPAIRED, rather maintained with medication.

Answer 10

There are but at twelve be sure to get different opinions. The surgery to fix it may be more traumatic than him living with it.