Dog with heart murmur 😣

Frazer600

Hi,
Our approx 7 year old Basset cross has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur. Grade 2.5 out of 5. He's been put on a half tab daily of bexapril 20g so he's on 10g daily. We noticed when we walked him he would fade after about ten minutes, stop and pant. He would recover after short break but we would usually turn back and he would lie in bed exhausted. Apart from trouble walking he us his usual mad self. Lazy as anything but can race through house and launch himself on to couch when he feels like it. He is due back in vets for review on Monday or Tuesday.
Just wondering if anyone has experience this with their pet and if there is anything in particular that I should be doing for him. We have him on a low fat, low salt food. He is only about 2kg overweight which is not bad for a Basset crossed with maybe beagle.
Any advice appreciated.

cocker5

Frazer600 wrote: »

Hi,
Our approx 7 year old Basset cross has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur. Grade 2.5 out of 5. He's been put on a half tab daily of bexapril 20g so he's on 10g daily. We noticed when we walked him he would fade after about ten minutes, stop and pant. He would recover after short break but we would usually turn back and he would lie in bed exhausted. Apart from trouble walking he us his usual mad self. Lazy as anything but can race through house and launch himself on to couch when he feels like it. He is due back in vets for review on Monday or Tuesday.
Just wondering if anyone has experience this with their pet and if there is anything in particular that I should be doing for him. We have him on a low fat, low salt food. He is only about 2kg overweight which is not bad for a Basset crossed with maybe beagle.
Any advice appreciated.

OP who diagnosed his heart murmur? Your vet a cardiologist?

Reason I’m asking is my vet diagnosed my guy Cody with a grade 2 heart murmur and also told me his heart was enlarged. She too prescribed medication.

I insisted in gong to see a cardiologist- and I am thankful I did. Cardiologist in nut grove Dublin saw him did lots of extensive testing and told me the following:

Dogs usually don’t need medication until grade 4/5... to be honest OP I’m not happy about giving my guy long term medication unless 100% necessary. He said vets perscrbe medication far too early.

With regard to the enlarged heart thing for my Cody - he said no cockers have larger hearts / nature of the breed - nothing to worry about. So since then he’s been on no medication avd I intend to keep it like that for as long as possible.

He said to put Cody on supplements
Ie taurine, Cq10 enzyme and l-carintine
(I get these via my vet and claim through pet insurance)

Which I did daily for the last 18 months .. had a check up recently and he said Cody’s heart murmur is sooo quiet he can barely hear it and most importantly it has not yet progressed to date - which is great!

So all I’d say OP is if you haven’t already been go to a specialtist! Vets are like go’s for human - general medicine .. a specialised issue needs to be looked at by a specialist

twomonkeys

Has your dog had any heart scans to see whats actually going on with the heart or is your vet purely going on what he/she can hear with a stetescope?
If he is showing outward signs of lethargy, then the murmur is having a definite impact on him and I would get a more indepth analysis of whats actually happening in his heart.
If your own vet cant do the heart scan, I also recommend the specialist in nutgrove (was referred with my cat who only had a murmur of 2.5 but turned out actually had severe cardiomyopathy).

Eta...the right meds can work wonders, and animals can live long, normal lives with a heart condition, but you need to know exactly what the problem is first.

cocker5

Just on the weight thing 2kg is 4.5 pounds which will still have a big impact ..my cocker went from 19kg down to 16.5kg recently and the difference is noticeable visually and behaviour / energy etc

cocker5

Frazer600 wrote: »

Hi,
Our approx 7 year old Basset cross has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur. Grade 2.5 out of 5. He's been put on a half tab daily of bexapril 20g so he's on 10g daily. We noticed when we walked him he would fade after about ten minutes, stop and pant. He would recover after short break but we would usually turn back and he would lie in bed exhausted. Apart from trouble walking he us his usual mad self. Lazy as anything but can race through house and launch himself on to couch when he feels like it. He is due back in vets for review on Monday or Tuesday.
Just wondering if anyone has experience this with their pet and if there is anything in particular that I should be doing for him. We have him on a low fat, low salt food. He is only about 2kg overweight which is not bad for a Basset crossed with maybe beagle.
Any advice appreciated.

just on the trouble walking has your vet also checked for joints issues? they could be also playing a part

Frazer600

Thanks for replies 🙂
Our vet did ultra sound on his heart and full blood work so I am happy with his diagnosis. I will check with him on Monday about giving our guy supplements and see. Anything that might help is worth trying along with his meds which are life long I'm afraid but the plus side of having him around and staying as healthy and with a good quality life is the pay off.
He has had his joints checked but believe me if you saw him running and jumping around with our westie you wouldn't suspect any issues at all. Apart from his reluctance to walk far and the outward sign of some discomfort at that time there were no other indications of any issue. Appetite great, colour of gums good and no depressive behaviour.
As for weight loss and 2.5kg. This isnt much considering weight issues Basset hounds usually have so I suppose I meant on the whole it's not bad. He was much more over weight but we have managed to get it down to this since last November by increasing his daily exercise and watching his diet. He is very food driven and with his hound nose would manage to find food anywhere. He regularly would clean up cats dishes and our westies left overs.
They are my best buddies and my heart would break if I lost either especially as they are still young..ish dogs and healthy apart from this.