Hi there,
we are due to bring our cavalier pup home this weekend,unfortunatly the breeder broke some bad news today.
she took them to the vet to be checked and the pup we are having has a slight heart murmur she will be 7 weeks old this weekend.
the breeder said that the vet said it was probably nothing to worry about at this age.
we have a cavalier already but we dont know much about this heart murmur any advise would be most grate ful. as you could imagine we are really upset by this news, we were looking so much forward to bringing her home this weekend!!
many thanks

I would think carefully before having this pup, as cavaliers are prone to heart defects. Have both parents got clear heart certificates? I really don't want to put a dampener on things, but i think you might be wise to do some research on the heart defects of cavaliers, there are plenty of sites available with information on this subject if you do a search. This site on the cavalier club website has a lot of information too:
http://www.cavalierclub.co.uk/breed/mvd2000/french.html (sorry can't do links!)
I hope things work out.

Erin

plus if the dog got a problem likes this before it comes to you it will not be insured and cannot get cover beacuse of the problem,i would think twice about it and the cost it could cost later,

On the other hand it could be nothing to worry about in a pup of this age. Wait to see what your vet thinks.

i would be worried about i would like a second check by a speclists vet in that feild,not just the breeders vet,

Hi everyone,
thanks for your advice,
i think we may still collect her,the breeder said i can keep her upto 2 weeks if i dont like what my vet says and change my mind she will take her back.
the breeder is such a lovely person and i really respect her for telling us.
such a disaster as all you want is everything to be perfect!!!
please keep advise coming, much appreciated
many thanks

Hi
I had exactly the same with a cavalier pup that I had booked,before she was even born, in 1997. The breeder had her checked, and a slight murmur was found.
(Both parents had been heart tested.)
We said we would take her anyway, as we had had a lot of experience with cavaliers and all their various health issues, and we would get her checked as soon as we got her settled.
We had her checked the in the following week, and our vet, and another at the same practice, found no trace of the murmur.

She was checked regularly, and it was never found again.

(Unfortunately, she slipped a disc last year, and didn't make it through the operation to remove the disc...but it wasn't because of a heart problem.)
Ours was already insured when the breeder's vet first discovered the murmur, consequently, if it had been a problem, the insurance was still valid.

If you decide to take the puppy, and it is found to have a problem, you would probably find that you were too attached to it to return it to the breeder, so I think you should think carefully before you commit yourself.
Having said that, it could be nothing to worry about, as mine was....

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Sami

Hi,
that's reasuring,thanks for that.
sorry to hear you lost your baby though.
we have had more positive advice than negative ( havent seen my vet yet ) i think we will have to see how it goe's, get her checked 1 week after last check i think will be best.
thanks

Don't want to be negative but I feel I must warn you. Two years ago I purchased a cocker who had a heart murmur. My vet checked it over a period of time and felt that it was myiocardiopathy. He offered tests etc but I declined as Harry was happy and healthy. However, I couldn't get pet insurance. All was well until last month when at the age of twenty months Harry died. There were no warnings, nothing that I could do. I let him in from the garden, went into the lounge and 10 mins later he was dead in the kitchen. Please, please get this pup thoroughly checked as two years is no age to lose a pup. Sam.

hi,
so sorry to hear your sad news..poor Harry bless him
was the murmur always there ??or did it go away.
sorry for your loss

I don't know if it is the same with dogs, but i was born with a heart murmur, as i grew older it disappeared, it also didn't give me any grief as i was growing up. So probably nothing to worry about but best to get it checked out.

Yes it can be the same, young pups do sometimes have a murmur that dissapears as they grow.

Dear Marley,

My boyfriend and I were recently in exactly the same situation :( We had picked our favourite puppy from a litter of Rottweilers and paid a deposit. A week later the breeder rang to say that she had had the litter vet-checked and he was found to have a heart murmur. We were offered first refusal on any of the other pups but I said to my boyfriend that I couldn't possibly just swap him for a 'better' one, so it's him or nothing. After alot of discussion and advise from all, we've decided to go ahead and keep our fingers crossed that he'll grow out of it.

We pick him up tomorrow :D and he's booked in at the vet's on Saturday, so we'll see if it has got any better...

As others have said, any pet insurance will have a clause excluding heart problems so we've decided to put £20ish a month into a savings account (same as an insurance premium) so should anything go wrong in the future we will have some money save up already. I will also feel that our money is working for us and we eliminate the possibility of being told that we are not covered.

I wish you all the best of luck with your puppy - let me know how you get on :)
Amanda
x

A friend of mine just recently lost her 13 year old dobemann (an excellent age for this breed) with multiple cancerous tumours.

She had a heart Murmer all her life, but until the last few months had regular excersise, and in her youth plenty of it. she also had underactive Thyroid and had been on tablets most of her life.

Conversely she lost last year a lovely young fir healthy five year old with Liver Cancer.

It can be a lottery and there are no guarantees.

hi all
just to let you know pup was taken to vets yesterday no trace of murmur
we are bringing her home today!
still keeping fingers crossed till she's been to uour vets
thanks for your replys

Hi just to say sami has given you good advice