Two weeks ago we bought a 10 week old Bichon Frise pup. On the day we asked the vaccinating vet for the breeder if everything was ok. It was. Three days later we registered with a local vet and asked for a health check. Everything was ok. Now, two weeks later during the second vaccination we have been told the puppy has a heart murmur. Does anyone have experience of this type of health problem and what exactly does this mean for the puppy in the future.

If it is a minor murmer of a developmental one then it may clear up or not effect him at all.  You really need to ahve him seen by a specialist when he is a little older.  It may well be that in another few weeks he will have grown out of it.

One of my puppies was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 9 weeks.  She has been checked since and there is no sign of it now.  She seems to have grown out of it. 

Thanks, at what age was she re-checked?

Thanks for replying to my mail
She has to return to the vet in 2 weeks to have another check up ,she will be 14 weeks and could then be referred to a cardiologist . When you say a little older what age were you thinking ? I am just worried about the whole thing . I have just nursed an aging dog through a heart related illness for 2 years through which he died age 13 and the stress and trauma of seeing him so ill was heart breaking . Don't get me wrong there were good days as well when he was his old self. That was one of the reasons why I had the puppy checked by 2 vets when I took her .
Another worry is the cost as I am not sure if the dog insurance will cover a complaint recognised in the dog within 2 weeks of registering .
I am sorry if I sound negative but I was so looking forward to having a dog I could walk and enjoy without having to worry all the time.

If your puppy is KC registered & you have transferred the ownership there's 6 weeks free insurance & you activiate it online !

Unfortunatly the puppy is not KC registered

Do you know why ti isn't KC registered. 

Frankly I would not buy an unregistered pedigree puppy.  The breeding parctices of the breeder would not be those I woudl be looking for if the pups aren't even registered.

I suspect innocent puppy murmers are being picked up now that pups are beign vaccinated earlier.  They give the poor owner an awful fright5 and are gone by the time they are 12 to 14 weelks old. 

If it was more serious I would be thinking of an unthrifty pup small for it's age, intolerant of excersise, not the normal lively puppy.  These pups are often too quiet for what you would expect.

Thanks for your comments -they are very helpful. She is in fact big, and overweight for her age - she is now on a diet. She enjoys lots of play, so let's hope the next few weeks will sort things out. 

hi alex,

i took my litter to the vets for their 1st jabs at 8 weeks. one bitch was diagnosed as having a slight murmur to my horror, when i took them back at 10 weeks for the 2nd jab, her slight murmur had changed to a significant murmur affecting both chambers of the heart. obviously i was  upset and dont know wot the future holds for her, she is the same size of all the others in the litter, eats well, runs around with the other dogs with no ill effects, maybe she'll grow out of it in time but i'm doubtful, i took her back for another checkup last week at 15 weeks old and she still has it. there is a specialist in gloucester that they can go to for an ecg scan etc but im not sure of the costs, i'm currently looking into those myself. good luck and keep us informed.

What is a grade 2 heart murmer? I know of a puppy who has just been diagnosed with this at 8 weeks old the vet said its quite bad to be born with a grade 2 as it will just get worse. Has anyone heard of this?