My puppy who went to the vet tonight for breathing oddly has a level 3 heart murmur. Thoughts on Prognosis?

Question

I saw the xray, and her heart looks huge. Her lungs aren't as full as they should be. She's a 10 month old boxer/black mouth cur.

The doc said her problems mentioned in my other question are related to problems caused by her heart defect. He said she needs an echocardiogram from a specialist this coming week and is currently managing her with a diuretic and breathing support. Her white blood cell count is elevated slightly so she's also on antibiotics. She has stopped coughing or gagging completely in the last two hours or so.

My mind is reeling. Apart from our puppy being so sick and the bad news and no sleep for 24 hours now, the one year anniversary of my dad's sudden and unexpected heart disease is in two days and it just seems insane that I'm listening to this doc talk about heart surgery and etc.

Answer 1

man, ... just reading that story makes me feel really bad and for the puppy to ................. wow .................... i hope she gets better b/c i just have nothing to say it is just heart breaking....

Answer 2

I don't have experience with heart murmurs in dogs but I did have a horse who had one. The horse did not live past 1 year old. Towards the end she had a lot of trouble breathing and the vet said there wasn't much we could do for her. I am sorry for the bad prognosis.

Answer 3

That's really rough, everything seems to have hit you at once. It will depend on the results from the ECG, as to the prognosis. I've had a dog live for quite a few years with a level 3 murmur and several other conditions, but every case is different.

I wish you luck, be strong.

Answer 4

it will be up to you wither you have the money to do all this treatment. if not then you have to decide to have her put to sleep when she in to much pain. i am sorry for you dad.