14 week old bullmastiff pup (george)
at 8 weeks my pup had a suspected heart murmour and i was told that the pet insurance would not cover any problems associated with this as it was taken out on the day of the vet visit, this isnt a problem as we are quite willing to pay anyway so that the pup is not suffering.
He has had all his jabs and seems to be healthy, over the last week he has had very chesty breathing at first i thought he was hot but to make sure i took him to the vets who said that he possibly has water on his lungs, he does choke when drinking sometimes but i thought this was because he was young and still learning how to drink from a bowl. I am now very concerned as the vet has said if he coughs then he could be drowning and to take him down immediatly.The vet said that george would have to be referred for tests, then i recieved a tel call telling me that he couldnt be ref until he was at least 16 weeks old(it could be a growing murmour). I am very confused i'm sure somebody else has come across this so i am hoping that i can be advised in anyway we have choices to make
Do we opt to have him operated on and a life of medication? OR
let nature take it's course?
It would break my heart to lose him now he is one of the family, but i don't want him to suffer either.
Very destressed and in need of any advice
JO

I'm sorry to hear about your problems and George's health problems - hopefully he will grow out of them rather than grow into them. Have you been in touch with your breeder? What does s/he suggest?

Regards

Margot

Margot thanx
No! i havent yet i wanted to get some more info before hand ive never dealt with breeders before, this is the first pup we have had of our own, i have grown up with dogs/horses/rabbits never had any health problems to combat (lucky me)we are unsure where we stand, but i know for sure he is not going back we love him loads he has a lovely colourful character, i hope he will grow out of it and that he lives a long and lively life but it is still very upsetting.
Any ideas of what i could say to the breeders
jo

Just tell them what is happening - as a breeder I would certainly be very upset if one of my new owners was having to handle such problems on their own! It's not as if it is your fault - you haven't done anything to cause these problems. If there is a fault anywhere, maybe it's in the breeding - and then I would certainly want to know!

All the best

Margot

Margot
After reading what you have to say i am going to contact them asap as i now feel that perhaps if it is in the breeding then i would want to limit the problems as far as their breeding is concerned so that no-one else has the same experiances, your right if it was me then i would want to know! I just hope they are as understanding as you
thanx
Jo

Is little George putting on weight 'normally'? Our vet told us not to worry too much when our first pup had a murmur as she was growing well - apparently, if a heart problem is going to be serious, the pup will not be able to grow as well as his 'normal' brothers and sisters. Your breeder will be able to tell you how fast he 'should' be growing. Did your vet suggest that you put George on a low sodium diet? This helps to minimise fluid build up in the lungs and other organs when the heart is struggling - might be worth asking about if the vet thinks that there is a chance of fluid building up in the lungs. The majority of puppy murmurs turn out to be nothing to worry about, and even if there is a problem, it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. Hope it turns out OK for George!

(sorry, forgot to add - we were told that the classic indication of fluid in the lungs is coughing after exercise and after getting up, does George cough?)

Hi Jenna
George seems to be growing alot and he is very active, I have not had contact with the breeders since we had him so i am unaware of how big his brothers and sisters are. I am in Warwickshire and we brought him from Manchester. I do intend to contact the breeders asap though?
The vet didnt mention diet.
George coughs but not all the time and when he gets excited or excercises and goes for a drink he starts to bring up water after drinking but i think it is just him gulping it down to fast, i did mention that to the vets and he said that was normal as the problem will be if he is coughing and wrenching and not bringing anything up.
Do you know how i can find out about a low sodium diet as i havent heard of it before?
jo

We put Minx onto a low sodium diet while we were going through the 'not sure if there's a serious problem or not' stage - the recommended sodium content for dogs with potential heart problems is 0.1 - 0.3% sodium (dry weight). Unfortunately, most dog foods give you no indication of the sodium content (which tends to be quite high), because normally it's just not important. Your vet can prescribe a low sodium puupy food, but this is likely to be hideously expensive - we found that Hills science plan puppy (they do tinned and dry) was the lowest we could get hold of (at 0.2 - 0.4% sodium, depending on the variety), and although it is pretty expensive too, it works out less than prescription levels! If you do decide to try it, remeber to change from his normal food gradually to give him chance to get used to it. If there turns out to be nothing wrong with him, the change of diet won't hurt him, but if he does have a problem, you'll be reducing the stress on his heart and giving him longer before he needs medication.
I hate it when vets don't tell you everything they can, if only they would give you something to go on, there are plenty of places you can find information to help you decide what to do - we found the internet invaluable, but our vet did tell us what he thought the problem was, rather than being vague and uninformative. (sorry to rant, but it seems a lot of people are told 'heart murmur' when they take their pups in for the first jabs, and are told pretty much nothing else, so go off imagining that their poor pup is going to die of heart failure at any minute!)

If you have trouble getting hold of your breeder, I bet there are breeders on here who could give you some idea of how much George should weigh at his age.