Just been to the vet for a general health check with my 7 week old puppies, and was told that one of the girls had a heart murmur - at the level of 3-4 on a scale of 6. Have of course read what I could about it here - so must admit I am not too worried at the moment. The puppy in question seems healthy - full of energy and eats well. She is the smallest in the litter - but only just - and she has grown and developed equally to the rest of the litter. For now I will just watch her closely then have her checked again when she is around 16 weeks - at which time I understand it could have decreased, gone away - or got worse ?? ( This is not a breed often affected by heart murmurs by the way)
Does anyone of you have any experience with a 3-4 murmur at this age ( 7weeks) - Did it improve,disappear - or ..... ?
The puppy has been "booked",and was soon to leave for her new home .... But I now want to keep her myself,as it seems the most sensible thing to do. The new owner might however say that they will take the chance ,and wan't her anyway...... Any thoughts on this please ??

I had puppy with a heart murmur about the same as yours in my last litter, he too was booked and I told the new owners the whole story. After consultation with their vet they went ahead and had the puppy from me. They paid no money for the puppy and in the contract I detailed his problems.

They were lovely people and took the opinion that he may have a few years or he may have many years that is the unknown but then so is everything in life and they wanted to give him a loving home for whatever time he had.

By the way they were able to get him insured for everything except his heart.

He is now in a happy, one to one home, being loved and cared for and at the moment appears to be very healthy and active.

I think the solution for us will be to keep the puppy ourselves - and I am pleased to hear that we should be able to insure her - if not for any heart conditions.
Can I ask how old "your" puppy is now ? - and how about the murmur ? Since you say he appears to be healthy and active - is it at the same level - or improved ? I am sure I have read that even quite significant murmurs can dissapear completely.

And so far - has there been any signs of your dog not being well ?

What breed of puppy is it Hammy, many problems can be worse in larger dogs than smaller ones.
Dawn.

She is a Miniature Schnauzer - in a litter of six - all the others are fine .
Any idea as to when and how this murmur is going to affect her in a way visible/noticeable to us ?

He is now 8 months, and leading a normal happy life, doing everything a puppy does do.

Whether or not the murmur is still there is not known, as his lovely owners have said that they were not going to dwell on the fact and as far as they were able, to ignore it. He will be checked by the vet when he goes for his yearly booster.

There have been no signs of him not being well and to look at him playing you would not know there is or has been anything wrong with him.

When I discussed his prognosis with my vet, he told me that he has a GSP whom he treats,that had the same grade of heart murmur as a puppy, he has since had a couple of operations, and still is a healthy dog at 8 years old with no obvious signs.

That sounds quite encouraging to me - thank you Lady Dazzle. I am not going to focus on the murmur either as long as she seems fine to me.

- - - But I keep on wondering just how often murmurs really do presents serious problems for the dog ........

Small dogs do cope better than bigger ones, I board a smallish Lurcher who is now 8yrs old she has a murmur, you wouldn't know it, she flies round like a fruit cake, she has had it since a puppy too.
Dawn.

Hi Hammy

I just recieved an e.mail from my bitches breeder about heart murmers...

Apparantly, the pups first vaccination can cause a slight heart murmer which will eventually dissapear.

But i really don't know anything about them myself.

Sorry....hope the pup carries on being healthy and happy.

Lisa

That was new to me - and quite interesting .............. Wonder if that means that this existing murmur could be affected by the vaccines then - one way or the other ....

I have 2 bitches with heart murmurs. The first is 3 years old and absolutely fine and the second is 4 1/2 months. They came from the same breeder but are not particularly closely related. They are both very happy and healthy. I ws never overly concerned about this as my son also has a heart murmur and he's 13. I don't know what grade the murmurs are beacuse I wasn't concerned enough to ask. If they had been serious then the vet would have recommended treatment. I suppose I've become very blasé about them.

can anyone advise me on dog weights???

Which breed? How old? Dog or Bitch?

staffie bitch 8 mths old i don't think she's over weight but just checked her weight 19 kilos is this around the norm or a little over, i feed her hills with a little bit of pedigree chum to give a bit of taste???

Hi Scooby,
It's best to judge by her shape. If you can see a "waist" when you look down at her standing, and if her ribs can be felt when you stroke her sides - that is, not very easily felt, but equally not having to prod through wodges of flesh to feel them - she's probably okay. Staffs come in a range of sizes and builds, so the right weight for one isn't necessarily right for another.

Hope this helps.

yes she no slouch and loves a run just trying to make sure i'm not giving her to much food???

when i say i dont think she looks over!! i can see her ribs ok!! i know there solid dogs but 19 kilos seems a bit high???

This sounds a little heavy but you really need to be looking at your bitch because they differ in size a reasonable amount. You should be able to feel her ribs but not see them. It's not a case of being able to count her ribs but being able to feel them without digging in so hard you'll hurt her. I wouldn't worry too much at her age after all where do you think the phrase puppy fat comes from? Have you tried looking at the feeding guidelines on her food it should give you a rough guide to how much she'll eat and then you need to take into account her activity levels.

Maybe staffie owners can give more advice?

Just checked in my book where it says Staffordshires should be between 14 - 16 inches (35.5 - 40.5 cm) high, and bitches should weigh 24 - 34 lb (11 - 15 kg). So it's best to go by her actual build - can you feel her ribs, and does she have a waist?

i checked the staffie book aswell and i'd say she's top size for a bitch she's also just finishing her first season so could this have some baring on her weight, she's always seemed to be quite chunkey even as a pup she's never looked skinny as some staffs do hopefully she will settle down to a reasonable weight, but 4 kilos over at 8 months seems a bit to far over, mmmmmmm (fat bitch!!!) ha ha just have to cut those tit bits out completly (soft touch owner so this could be harder than it sounds!!!)

I can relate to that, my partner has a beagle (nothing to do with me she's a pest :) ) It's a constant struggle to keep her to a good weight especially as he had her neutered. It took us months to realise she was jumping on top of one of the cages and nibbling bits of food out of the container attached to the wall. Can but try.

Again the "conclusion" seems to be that often (perhaps in most cases ??) a murmur is of little significance... The owner of the sire came to have a look at our litter a few days ago,and wanted to buy a bitch. He was quite keen on "little murmur" - was not bothered by the murmur, and was willing to buy her at the full price. ( She is still staying with me though).

Hi Hammy, all the data info on vaccines given out by all manufacturers, clearly states, *vaccines can only be given to healthy animals*.
Christine, Spain.

However both my dogs (and my son) have been vaccinated. A heart murmur is not an illness it just means that there is an unsual noise in the heart normally from a slightly leaky valve or similar.

Yes I am sure you are right - but then according to crazycrest a heart murmur is not an illness as such - - But must admit that I am thinking about delaying her vaccination.