Please can anyone help? I was told that my dog had a Murmur two years ago graded between 2-3 and nothing to worry about until I went to the vet today 22/10/04 due to my worry of him screaming out early hours this morning for a couple of seconds after that he was ok, and he's been a bit tired but no sign of coughing, which today had graded between 3-4 the Tablets they have given for my dog is Frusamide 20mg 1 Taken 2 Times A Day and Fortekor 5mg 1/2 A Day. Even my dog is still active and wants to play he is a Pekingese called Ito aged 9.  Can anyone advise me as I am very scared of loosing my dog. All i have done is cry with worry pls mail me julieiito@yahoo.co.uk

Thank you

It is upsetting when you find out that your dog is ill & that there is nothing that can be done to cure it but the tablets you mention will help him cope

There are things you can do to make sure that you are helping your dog as much as possible, like keeping their weight at an acceptable level, I had suggested to me giving Vit E to help. not exercising in too much heat, not exercising too much for the age of the dog.

Remember your dog will not be worried about his heart he might cough a little & rest more but the rest is part of growing old. two of my Cavaliers have murmurs  Grade 2 is on no meds but three monthly check ups & the grade three is on meds & two monthly checks ar present

There is nothing more you can do except go on loving him & caring for him & take each day as it comes

Sorry to hear of your problem, it must be so horrid for you, our Tibetan Mastiff girl had a heart murmer from being 10 months old she managed fine and had a good show career, it was only as she got older that we stopped exerting walk and her play she, had different concoctions of tablets but she did live to be 12 years old and past away peacefully in her sleep. I would think people that have more experience of the medical side of the treatment will come along and give you more help, but all we did with our girl was let her set her own pace.

First let me say, I am not a vet however, heart murmurs are generally caused by turbulent blood flow through a valve which leaks.  This turbulence is often heard through a stethoscope.  Valves open to let blood through and then close again so that the blood cannot creep back from where it came.  They are quite common - I have one myself.  The tablets are probably some form of blocker to slow the pace of the heart so that the blood doesn't flow so quickly.  Again, the tablets are very common and lots of people with high blood pressure take them throughout their lives.  The symptoms can vary from none (just the sound of the turbulent flow of blood) to more serious.  The serious symptoms in people are severe breathlessness, blackouts and severe angina.  I imagine that if your dog is active and not suffering from breathlessness or fainting episodes then the prognosis would be reasonably good.  I would just be careful about how much exercise the dog is given as it isn't good to over exert - this just causes the heart to pump faster and the blood flow is more turbulent.  Letting her set her own pace is great advice.  Good luck and hopefully she has got many years ahead of her yet.