A few weeks ago my shih-tzu who is 12yrs 8months developed and abcess on her face and I took her to the vet. He examined her and asked if I knew she had a heart murmur to which I said no.  Apparently it was just slight and needed no medication.
2 weeks later, I took her back to have the abcess checked and also she had had a funny turn. She screamed out, went rigid and then passed out for a few seconds.
When they checked her this time, she was a grade 5 with her heart murmur and was put on vetmedin and furosimide ( a water tablet).
About 20 mins after taking the water tablet, she had another one of these funny turns and another 4 milder ones in as many hours resulting in her being admiited to the pet hospital overnight.
She is back home now and the water tablet has been dropped for now till her blood results come back hopefully on Monday.
I lost my last little shih-tzu to congested heart failure but my current dog does not have the fluid around her heart like the other one.
Has anyone had any experience of this.   The screaming out is horendous and very scarey to witness.

Some antibiotics can cause a heart murmur but i doubt it would be so severe.

My Norfolk Terrier is the same age and she has also been diagnosed with a heart murmur and a slightly enlarged heart.  She has no fits luckily but is on Prilactone, just 1/2 a tablet in the morning.  Touch wood no problems so maybe its worth trying another form of tablets, when you know whats the blood results are. Hope you get on ok

How is she doing now?

That seems a very rapid deterioration in her heart function in such a short space of time, was it the same vet each time as some folk have better hearing than others and interpret what they are hearing differently too.

Have the odd turns she has been having been put down to her heart problem or something else such as epilepsy, clots in the heart or brain?

Do you know I wondered about epilepsy too.

We go back to the vets today for blood test results. She has had no more fainting turns but often stares with a blank expression. I lost one 2 half years ago with full blown congestive heart desease and can't bear to see that again. Hers progressed really quickly too. It wasn't the same vet who said it was a grade 5 but she was very thorough.

Again, staring with a blank expression can mean a petit mal. Let us know the results.

I hope you get better news from the vets and it is something that can be treated.

Blood results came back ok.Vet wanted to put her back on frumoside but couldn't say if it caused her to pass out or wash some vital nutrients from her body. In the end, he said to just carry on with the vetmedin.Has anyone used it on it's own? I don't think the outcome is very good as it is advanced.My other shihtzu suffered with chd, so I have to keep an eye on her and if it gets too bad, make a tough decision
Trying not to think about that yet.She has seen me through so much, i have to be kind to her

If the bloods were done after she started taking the Furosemide and they were normal then it hasn't caused her to pass too much urine and wash the electrolites out of her, I don't know what dose you are giving but can't you give her less, this drug is widely used in humans[ they keep changing its name ] and in 40yrs I have never seen it causing the episodes you mentioned but does help the heart by reducing the amount of excess fluids it is having to pump around the body.

I read up on the Vetmedin, it is only used in dogs and cats,it  reduces the pressure of the blood being pumped out of the heart and the blood coming back in again before it goes up to the lungs to pick up oxygen and re enters the heart before being pumped around the body.

I hope you don't have to make that decision any time soon

Is heart failure a breed related condition or have you just been unlucky to have 2 with the same problem, were they related?

They took a blood sample when she went into the emergency vet last Thursday after she had these turns and this showed that the electrolites had been washed out and her blood sugar was low.  She only had half a tablet.

The main blood test was done after that.    The Furosemide is 20mg and she was supposed to have half a tablet twice a day.  I am too paranoid to give it to her but if the vet says on Wed that she should start taking it, I may ask for it to be given there and I will wait half hour in the waiting room to see if anything happens.

Unbeknown to us at the time, both my dogs had the same dad.  They came from different areas and it wasn't untill we got their papers that we realised that they were related.

I find it very hard to believe that her condition is so far advanced although she does tire quickly but she still looks alert, is eating etc.

Re reading your first post she had her first " turn" before the Furosemide was started so it wasn't the cause.

Staying at the vets after giving her a dose is a good idea[ known dogs who have reacted to vacs in the past staying at the surgery till the danger period has passed] hopefully she will be fine, the dose is low too.

Have the vets witnessed any of the "turns"?

Sorry for all the questions

My dog was diagnosed with a heart problem over 5 years ago and was put on furosemide and vetmedin. After a while I dropped the furosemide so he now takes just one vetmedin tablet a day. He does have quite a bad cough which the vet says is caused by his now enlarged heart pressing on his windpipe. But despite the cough he is still quite active and visits to the vet are few and far between.

Yes! She had a mild one when they kept her in but the vet could not say if the water tab was to blame. The very first one she had she was relieving an itch on her back and I thought she had trapped a nerve.

Can I ask how old your dog is and what grade is his murmur.My dog is on
vetmedin twice a day
The vet gave the impression I wasn't going to have her for long. Your post gives me some hope

I'm sorry, maggie, I don't know the grade of the murmur but I would imagine it's quite high. It was diagnosed when he was almost 11 and he'll be 16 next month. The cough is the only symptom he's ever had  - it has got worse recently but he's not ready to leave us just yet ! 
I'm glad this gives you hope, that was my main reason for posting.
Best wishes to you.

> Unbeknown to us at the time, both my dogs had the same dad. 

Have you let the owner of the Sire know, and if appropriate the breed club to add to the breeds knowledge re health issues. 

Two from the same parent with the condition is a little more than coincidence, and merits further investigation of other offspring.

A lot of people criticise breeders over health, but unless owners let breed clubs and breeders know of issues, it is very hard to do anything until an when an issue becomes very common place, then it is even harder.

i have a toy breed also with a heart murmur who is on vetmedin, furosimide, fortekor and Spironolactone and has just been taken of Moduret.
She is graded 4/5 we found out about her murmur in 2008 and she is still going really well granted she has some off days but most of the time still runs
around playing and rolling in the grass with the other dogs.

one of my collies,aged 13 when she had to be put to sleep,was on vetmedin alone for her heart condition.Seemed ok on it,and I had her for another year after diagnosis(id taken her in for a slight cough that wouldnt clear)Good luck!

Thnkyou to everyone for your replies. They make you feel less alone. She seems to have a bit more life in her today. Hopefully the medication is doing some good. I know she can't be cured but I am going to try to enjoy whatever life she has left.

Been back to the vets today for a checkup
. She hasn't got any worse although she is still poorly obviously but don't have to go back for a month unless she takes a turn for the worst.
The water tablets weren't mentioned so I am no giving her those.
I hope when her time comes, she just goes in her sleep but we all wish that
for our pets.

I had a Cavalier who went from no murmur at all to a grade 6 (the worst) when he was 8. The vet gave him 6 months to live. He had several strokes over the years. We finally said goodbye at 15 years, 2 months and 2 days. So never say never. :)

I love reading stories like that
It gives me hope. Thanks

Just a little update and I know it is very early days but the tablets seem to be doing something good.

She is still eating and we go for very short walks when she wants to.

She still sleeps a lot but she also has a mad five minutes now and again which terrifies me encase she overdoes it but she seems to be reasonably happy.

She hasn't had anymore funny turns but she is still only on the vetmedin.

Fingers crossed she may be one of the lucky ones who manages to live a lot longer.