I have quite a poorrly 14 year old tibetian terrierxbearded collie who amongst other ailments was diagnosed with a heart murmer.  She has recently started snorting whilst out on her short walks.  I know that coughing is a sign of heart problems but I am told that this snorting is NOT connected.  I am not so sure.  Could someone please confirm either way.  Thankyou.

I took my dog to the vets yesturday (11yr old german shep x collie) and he has a heart murmer and the vet gave me a leaflet.....these are the signs:

Coughing (especially at night)
Lack of energy and reluctance to exercise
Loss of appetite
Lethargy
Depression
Difficulty in breathing
Weight loss
Enlarged abdomen

I have been advised that if my dog has any of those symptoms then he will have to go on medication (fortekor) for the rest of his life.

A few months ago i took my dog to the vets because he was coughing at night, and thats how the vet detected the heart murmer....so he put him on medication and advised me to see how he goes once the medication ran out.....luckily my dog didn't cough after that, but when i took him to the vets yesturday they said that his heart murmer has got worse since he last saw my dog.

HTH

Just to clarify, dogs with herat problems don't have to have all or even several of those symptoms. :) I have a dog who has a VERY serious heart murmur indeed (my vet expected him to die 3 years ago but Rufus didn't think that was necessary thank you! :D ) and he can eat for England, is as happy as Larry, don't have a swollen abdomen (that would be due to a fluid build up), loves walks and training (but has to be limited) and doesn't cough much. He does sleep a lot though for sure. Yes he is on medication now, but the only reason for why his murmur was found was that I bought a stethoscope on Ebay and played around with it and heard it myself. So it can vary a lot from dog to dog. I have had others, in my personal experience the most common signs are tiredness, some dogs "faint" at times.  Mine has little episodes of "mini fits" when he for a few seconds lose balance, my vet explained this with it happening when the heart doesn't pump the blood to the brain efficiently enough.

But to go back to the original question; no snorting has nothing to do  with it. Some breeds do it more than others, and in fact in some cases it can partly be due to indigestion, i.e. an excess of stomach acids.

Take heart (no pun intended) both of you, these days there is so much they can do for dogs with heart problems, especially those that develop it when older. If one medication doesn't work there are others.  Good luck! And Rufus say hello! :)

Lol Goldmali :-) i wasn't saying that a dog has to have all those symptoms to have a heart murmer, i just copied all the symptoms from the list on the leaflet :-)

I know I just wanted to clarify. :) :) Think I've had the same leaflet from my vet. :)

Is it the leaflet with a big red broken heart on it and a picture of a brown (tan) dog on it :-)