New pup's grade 3 heart murmur

[Moss26]

Had my pup's first vet visit this morning and the very first thing out of the doctor's mouth was he has a heart murmur. I have had my 9 week old pup for a week. I am sooo bummed out. I immediately scheduled a cardiologist visit and we leave in an hour to find out what's going on.

Has anyone dealt with a grade 3? I know some dogs live long and others don't, but is there a correlation between the grade and life expectancy - do grades 1 and 2 have a greater chance than 4's and 5's? Does it really just depend on the cause of the murmur?

Then there is the whole issue with the breeder. I'm holding the breeder's vet certificate in my hand - it's a clean bill - how can that be??

[Courtney]

I'm sorry to hear this about your puppy.

It was disclosed by our breeder that her vet picked up on a grade 2 murmur on my boy. I still wanted him & brought him to my vet who could never hear one, actually had several vets within the same practice listen...nothing. He's now almost two and several vet checks later...still nothing. My fingers are crossed that maybe the initial diagnoses was wrong or he out grew it...I was obsessed & worried about this for a long time.

I'm glad your following through with a cardiologist visit.

What does your contract state about any health issues (breeder return puppy, breeder covers some of the cost for surgery, etc)?

[1sttimeforgsd]

Wishing for the best for your boy!

[RebelGSD]

I have a heart murmur myself, and my doctors made a huge drama out of it 20 years ago. I did not restrict my activities in any way, did some challenging sports and I am still not having any problems.

[Moss26]

So, 3hrs and $450 later I just got home after taking him to the cardiologist. The doctor performed the ultrasound and everything is totally normal. Apparently, he has what is commonly referred to as a "puppy murmur" brought on by the normal growth of his heart and body. I am so relieved you have no idea!

But seriously, what the ****? I feel like I was just put together by the vet and specialist...are they in cahoots! After relaying all this to my breeder, she went nuts and said that I should get a new vet immediately. The breeder said these murmurs are completely normal and puppies grow out of them within 6 months. Aghh, the vet made it seem like he was going to die tomorrow!

Anyways, the important thing is that he is all healthy right. And even if I had spoken to my breeder before going to see the specialist, I probably still would have gone - just to be sure.

This has definitely been a learning experience and you can bet that I will be scrutinizing everything that vet has to say in the future. Now I am off to see if my pet insurance will cover this...

Thanks so much to everyone who responded!

[onyx'girl]

Wow, I agree with your opinion:
But seriously, what the ****? I feel like I was just put together by the vet and specialist...are they in cahoots!
And of course if you were to ignore the vet, then you'd never know. Did they know you had insurance up front?

[jocoyn]

YAY - well what a ripoff but the great news is a normal puppy with a normal puppy heart!

[wolfstraum]

Lots of vets "hear" mummers that are really just stress ... apparently many babies seem to have one but really don't....I remember having my one cat looked at by a very very high profile clinician at Penn Vet and he freaked out that the cat had a huge murmmer....after sitting in a room for over an hour waiting for the head cardiologist to listen...the cat had calmed and settled and viola' - no heart murmer...Dr Knight sort of glared at the other vet and said to start off with basics - ended up the cat's problem was diabetes...and his heart was fine....

Lee

[selzer]

I sold a puppy a little later than usual, at about 14 or 18 weeks, not sure now.

Anyhow, he went to my vet at 6 weeks, 10 weeks, and 14 weeks, and the vet listened to the heart each time, and never said anything about a problem. I sold the pup with a clean bill of health.

I always encourage people to take the pup to the vet within two weeks of purchase, and will refund the purchase price within two weeks. The buyer did and their vet said that the pup had a heart murmur. The vet said that with all she went through with her previous dog, she should send this one back to the breeder. She called me, she already did not want to give him back and was scheduled to see a cardiologist.

I told her that I would extend my warranty on the dog and give him some time to grow out of it.

She told me the cardiologist said that everything was there and looked clean, and that likely the pup would out grow this and would be able to do anything she wanted with him.

I called around, both to my friends and my vet, and they said that yes the pup might not have had it during the puppy visits, and yes the pup can grow out of it, and sometimes they do not.

Three weeks later, she said that the murmur was totally gone.

I went to his obedience class graduation.

I don't think it is bad to check out these things, but I am glad that you let the breeder know, and are checking it out. Chances are good he will totally out grow it. If not, then you know, and you might be able to educate yourself on the kinds of things you might be able to do to manage the condition.

[Moss26]

Thanks Selzer - sounds like I jumped the gun a little when I implied the breeder was being dishonest...

However, I do fault the breeder with not warning me ahead of time. She could have easily said "listen, at your first vet visit they may find a slight murmur - just be aware that these are completely normal for pups this age. We didn't hear one, but just in case, I want you to be aware and it is up to you if you want to get it checked out further."

From what I could tell the vet checked all of three things on the visit with the heart being first. I would have appreciated the heads up about what sounds like a common problem that could occur to a major organ.

@onyxgirl - no, the vet did not know that I had insurance...