I went to Burnley on the train from London on Monday and rescued another dog - 6 yr old long coat Chi (I know I must be crazy).  Sadly when I took him to the vets for his vaccinations/chip/flea/worm/eye treatment & dental assesment the vet said that the little chap has a heart murmur, so I may have to rehome him as most of my dogs are young and it's quite hectic for him here.  He was previously with an old lady who'd not been able to look after him properly so if he's not suited here one of the handlers at dog training would like to have him for her Grandad.

I really love this little chap though and can't decide if I am being sensible rehoming him and selfish keeping him or totally over-cautious to a manageable condition.  I didn't see my usual vet, I saw a young brash guy and my GSD was also admitted for removal of dew claw that day, as well as our puppy having her second jab and the rescue Pom twisting a ligament in her leg so I didn't ask him many of the questions i might have asked my usual vet in a normal consultation.

I can ring the vets back (and may well do later today) but I wanted to ask everyone's advice and experience here first.

Well what did the vet say about its seriousness? Some heart murmurs are not very serious at all. I have a Cavalier with an EXTREMELY serious heart murmur, and last year when he was 10 I got a papillon puppy as a companion for him and it has done him a world of good, really brought life back to him. He's happier and healthier than for years, and copes fine on his heart medication. I was just saying this morning when feeding the dogs that it says a lot about how long Rufus has been on heart medication that ALL the dogs in this house know the sound of me opening the drawer to get Rufus's pills, as getting one out means they are all going to get breakfast. The moment I get his pills they all go mad. :)

Will PM you :)

You would really need to have a good Vet to be able to judge the severity or go to a heart specialist. I had a lady bought a puppy from me a few years ago and her original Golden Retriever had been diagnosed with a severe heart murmur at her first injections. The Vet said that she would not live beyond 10 months old.  She decided that she would keep this puppy as she had already bonded and would give it the best life albeit short.  She lived to 11 years old and died of cancer. I would do as much investigation as you can but it doen't necessarily mean the dog is going to drop dead on you.  Go and see the Vet you trust.

Chi Chi my last cav had a heart murmur and it steadily got worse in the vets eyes, he did very well with the new kitten and this never seemed to be a problem. After talking and soul searching his vet and I decided tablets were not the way to go and up until the day I let him go he never had a days illness just a little cough he wasn't depressed or in pain that was saved for me with his passing.  I miss him dreadfully but his life although cut short by his heart wasn't affected in a bad way the vet was amazed to see him still pulling me around a week before his passing.  Every dog is different you need to asses this little one to see if it can cope in yours but I am sure if anyone can help it to fit in you can.  Good luck whatever your decision
Gemma

Wow! That's very inspirational, thanks for sharing that with me, it's very hopeful.

Gemma you've made all the emotions come to the surface again, I think maybe my cautiousness and wanting to find him a quieter home is partly due to unselfishness and equally partly due to selfishness.

The unselfishness is because I don't want to put a strain on him, and I really do believe he'd love to be a lone pet with a quieter setting.

The selfishness is to protect myself from worry as I already think he's such a sweetie that I am scared of losing him through death rather than a rehome................. 

Oh to get a dog that would live a good forty or so years and what I would give not to have to make that decision again to have a dog put to sleep but unless we are to give up keeping dogs I don't think we have a choice.  Chi-Chi I hope you are able to come to a decision without to much heartache you are allowed to be a little bit selfish every now and then as long as you are selfless over the big questions. Let me know what you decide.
Gem

He really is a sweetie, but I decided this morning to rehome him.  One of my cats seems to take great delight in attacking him, or just totally intimidating him until he's too scared to move and actually buries his head to protect his eyes!!  She drew blood yesterday and with the combination of that and our rescue Pom persistantly trying to hump him I think he is going to better off with a lone person or a couple that are perhaps retired or work part time and have grandchildren over at weekends.

I have three people I can approach which is great.  One is a lady who has just lost her husband and was let down for a Chi recently (the people who let her down felt bad and put her in touch with me, but at that stage I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to hang onto him).  The other person is a guy who walks his dog in the same park as me and has been asking me where he can get an adult sedate Chi for his elderly Mother, and the other is a lady who is a dog handler where I go training with my own Chis and she's after one for her Grandad. It's just a case of checking out where he will be best suited, but I advertised him on some Chi sites this afternoon just in case I need more back-up as I am yet to mention the heart murmur to two of them which may deter them.

I certainly will keep you posted.  Thanks again for the support :)

Sounds like the best decision -cats can be a problem if they take against such a small dog. My papillon was only 10 weeks old when one of my cats swiped him and punctured his eye, it was awful and it was weeks before we knew that he'd keep his eye. (He's absolutely fine now, a year later.) That particlar cat has had to live in an outside cattery since, away from the dogs, chances are she'd never do anything again, she'd just lost a litter and was not in a good mood, but I can't risk it.

Ouch! That eye injury sounds nasty!  Sorry to hear about the difficulties you had too.

The cat in question has had kittens, and although they are old enough to leave now and all happy to play with all of my dogs, the cat is incredibly possessive and seems to be using the new easier to target Chi as an example to the other dogs.  The first couple of times I obviously made allowances as she's merely doing her 'Mum' bit, but she seems to actually enjoy the challenge and will charge the old guy when he tries to move a millimeter, and even when he's in the garden minding his own business and miles away from the kittens.

It's very strange as I recently bought a new Chi puppy who is tiny (smaller than her kittens) and she's accepted her no problem, even though she's a little livewire.  She's just taken an exception to this chap!