Hello, Brigette,
A great number of puppies have innocent murmurs at under eight weeks of
age. I went through a period of worry over two of mine until speaking
to a cardiologist. Are you worried about a PDA (Patent Ductus) sort of
murmur? They can take up to eight weeks to normally close. After that,
there is a very successful surgery which can be done to correct a PDA
murmur. Other "innocent" murmurs can take up to a few months to
disappear. I'm not saying that the murmur you have is innocent, but
don't panic just yet.
Many vets (including my own) are very good at hearing murmurs, but won't
classify them without a specialist. Sometimes this expertise is scarey;
most vets wouldn't hear the murmurs that my vet hears. Therefore, I do
agree that going to a cardiologist is the best bet for a good
diagnosis.
I wouldn't breed a dog with a PDA murmur which didn't close by eight
weeks or so as the mode of inheritence hasn't been studied long enough;
the only study of which I know is in poodles and it wasn't sufficient.
(This is just my opinion, folks!) However, it isn't necessarily life
threatening unless it goes untreated. You would hear a PDA murmur in a
different area of the heart than MVD.
I've learned a great deal by volunteering to assist at a heart clinic;
during the times when we weren't swamped with exams, the cardiologist
was most kind in educating me about a number of areas. I also sneak in
a question or two that has come up in the past during routine cardiology
exams on my dogs. Most top cardiologists are more than willing to share
their research.
Suze (off to Boston cluster this am)
Edv Falch wrote:
They seem to be doing better now (I saw a soft formed
> stool) but of course there is still the worry about the little boy with the
> heart murmor.
>
> Brigitte Falch
> Kibergo Cavaliers Reg'd
> Maple Ridge, BC, Canada
> http://alescosys.com/kibergo
>
>
--
Suze at Llawen Cavaliers
"...I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man
to depend simply upon himself." -Isna Ia-wica
"Thought comes before speech" Luther Standing Bear
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