 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / July 2005Are Heart Murmur's Hereditary?
We recently learned that Max, our 3 year old Golden Retriever stud dog has a slight heart murmur. No problems were detected at any earlier vet visits. We have had Max examined by two vets with differing results. One claims that Max has a murmur rated at about 3.5 on a scale of 1-6, enlarged heart, fluid in the lungs (all detected with only a Stethoscope). The other vet detects a slight murmur, maybe a 1-1.5, nothing else. He has no other physical symptoms of a bad heart. He loves to run, play, etc. and no coughing in the morning. Our next step is to take him to Purdue Vet school to be checked by a cardiologist. My real question is whether or not it is wise to keep a puppy from his last litter this spring for stud service. We had saved a male puppy from our spring litter to use as a second stud dog (if he passes all his cerfs, OFA, etc) before Max's heart murmur was detected. The puppy has no signs of problems at this point but I'm not sure if heart murmurs are hereditary. I have also learned that there are no known cases of heart problems in Max's parents or siblings. What are other known causes of heart murmurs? Any suggestions are appreciated. Heartache in Indiana I've had 2 dogs with murmurs which was congestive heart failure. From my understanding, a 3.5 murmur is significant. My pitbull showed no symptoms for a long time.... he had a murmur of 3 but wasn't coughing or acting like something was wrong. He's had congestive heart failure for 3 yrs now.... being treated with lasix and digoxin. My first dog w/CHF coughed, spit up phlegm like stuff, struggled breathing, etc.... he was very very old and had a murmur of 5 out of 6 when we put him down. I don't breed regardless of how wonderful the dog is... there are so many in rescue that need homes as it is.... I've gotten 2 show quality hounds from rescue... the 2nd came with his akc papers. Insane. Nicole > We recently learned that Max, our 3 year old Golden Retriever stud dog > has a slight heart murmur. No problems were detected at any earlier vet [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Heartache in Indiana in thread news:1120713166.297627.135350@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com: "haas" <donh@wielanddesigns.com> whittled the following words: > We had saved a male puppy > from our spring litter to use as a second stud dog (if he passes all [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > cases of heart problems in Max's parents or siblings. What are other > known causes of heart murmurs? Any suggestions are appreciated. They can be, but you will know more, and hopefully have peace of mind when you get to the Cardiologist. Sounds like you tried to do everything right, and you still got bit. I'm sorry. BTW, Golden Retrievers ARE one of those breeds that you should have an OFA-ca for Heart murmurs are caused by a disturbance in blood flow. Things that can cause them include virtually any heart disease (big heart, thick heart, bad valve, hole in the wall, etc), or something that causes the blood to be either too thick or too thin (anemia is often a cause). Murmurs are graded on how loud they are and where you can hear them. Every vet is going to grade a murmur differently. I was taught that only a trained cardiologist can hear a grade I/VI murmur, so if I hear a faint murmur I call it a II/VI. My boss, on the other hand, will grade my II/VI as a I/VI on his scale. It's hard to know the significance of a murmur. Some dogs can have significant heart disease and absolutely no murmur whatsoever. Other dogs can have very significant murmurs but actually minimal heart disease. The only way to know for sure what is going on in the heart is to do a full workup including chest xrays, ecg, and cardiac ultrasound. Many heart conditions are hereditary, but others are not. I think I'd certainly recommend working up this murmur fully, before continuing to breed this dog or his offspring, because you certainly don't want to be propagating heart disease in any line. Deborah, DVM p.s. I don't think I'd go back to the vet who told you he could "hear" an enlarged heart, because it's physically impossible!!!!!! > We recently learned that Max, our 3 year old Golden Retriever stud dog > has a slight heart murmur. No problems were detected at any earlier vet [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Heartache in Indiana *Heart murmurs are caused by a disturbance in blood flow. Things that can *cause them include virtually any heart disease (big heart, thick heart, bad *valve, hole in the wall, etc), or something that causes the blood to be *either too thick or too thin (anemia is often a cause). Murmurs are graded *on how loud they are and where you can hear them. Every vet is going to *grade a murmur differently. I was taught that only a trained cardiologist *can hear a grade I/VI murmur, so if I hear a faint murmur I call it a II/VI. Hee hee. When I was fresh out of school, if I heard a murmur at all I figured it had to be a III/V; I now believe I can auscult a I or II/V given decent working conditions (as in no constant background barking, no constant owner talking on cellphone, no children constantly asking "is he ok? is he ok?" and so forth). I was taught: I/V: soft, heard only after a few minutes of listening closely II/V: soft but heard immediately III/V: moderate intensity, heard immediately, no palpable thrill IV/V: loud, palpable thrill V/V: loud, palpable thrill, audible with stethescope off chest wall. h.  SignatureHillary Israeli, VMD Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read." --Groucho Marx > *Heart murmurs are caused by a disturbance in blood flow. Things that can > *cause them include virtually any heart disease (big heart, thick heart, bad [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > h. *why do some vets use 5 or 6 as the high number? Because those are the only options? ALL vets use either a scale of I-V or I-VI, depending on with whom they trained and which scale was used in that cardiology department. The University of PA, where I trained, uses a scale of I-V. SignatureHillary Israeli, VMD Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read." --Groucho Marx Perhaps if you hadn't mentioned IT was SICK you could'a sold it on the net. Like THIS: Newsgroups: alt.forsale From: d...@wielanddesigns.com (Don) Date: 28 Jan 2004 19:25:08 -0800 Subject: Golden Retriever Pups For Sale AKC Golden Retriever pups for sale. $350 Male or Female available. Eight weeks old. Ready to go Feb. 1, 2004. Pups are light golden, very healthy, have first shots. Pictures available. Dam has hips certified with OFA, Sire is just under two years old. No OFA yet. Champion bloodlines. Copies of Pedigree's available. Located in northern Indiana. E-mail for more information. > We recently learned that Max, our 3 year old Golden Retriever stud dog > has a slight heart murmur. No problems were detected at any earlier vet [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Heartache in Indiana So what's your point? In rec.pets.dogs.behavior haas <donh@wielanddesigns.com> wrote: Cardiac problems are a significant cause of death in crtain breeds, e.g. Boxers, Dobermans and Golden Retrievers. THere are several other affected breeds, but it is defiently breed relaed and therefore inherited. Heart murmurs can also have non-genetic origin. Hopefully we can educate breeders to chack for cardiac issues and not breed affected dogs. Not every health problem is grounds for withdrawing a dog from breeding, but cardiac issues certainly are. For more information on understanding genetics and health issues in dogs the book "Control of Canine Genetic Disease os of great assistance. If I can spare just one person the heartbreak I went through with a two year old dog dropping dead from heart problems then my time will be well spent. SignatureDiane Blackman http://dog-play.com/ http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm > In rec.pets.dogs.behavior haas <donh@wielanddesigns.com> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > year old dog dropping dead from heart problems then my time will be well > spent. there is growing evidence that familial cardiomyopathy in the great dane is probably X-linked, manifesting in males more than females. Screening prior to breeding is still not uniform. Linda H. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.