My 4.5 year old sheltie has a heart murmur

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bloodroot

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Any experience with an aquired (not congenital) heart murmur just discovered in my 4.5 year old sheltie male???

An emergency vet last summer (just before he turned 4) asked me if anyone had ever reported his having a heart murmur and I said no. I had his regular vet check it out shortly thereafter and she didn't hear one, so I frankly forgot all about it until he had his rabies vaccination last weekend when another vet found it and referred me for an echocardiogram.

His echocardiogram from yesterday shows a left mitral valve not closing completely. The murmur is probably rated a 1 or a 2 out of 6 in severity. He has no symptoms now and no heart enlargement but he is predicted to have "significant" congestive heart failure 2-4 years from now meaning at age 6 to 8.

He's had a lot of Lyme infections starting at 6 mos. ago and then stomach issues (bloody diarrhea) at 9 mos. or a year but none for almost 2 years, so I've been grateful that all seemed OK -- till now. The vet said this is partially genetic and I see heart murmurs as a sheltie problem that I was heretofore unaware of.

He is very active, just resumed agility, and loves chasing balls. I was told that diet and exercise for dogs don't help slow CHF so am surprised and distressed. Any info, particularly positive, would be welcome. I didn't sleep well last night.
 
Emma has a Grade I heart murmur, detected prior to her spay. I am not sure if it is congenital or not. I was told not to worry too much about it. It is subjective with each vet what grade it is. One could say III, another I.

I had an echo done as well, can't remember other than it was not too serious. I take each day with her as it comes.
 
RE: Heart murmur -- thanks for response

Thanks for response. Glad to hear yours didn't seem to be a big deal.

How long has Emma had the murmur?

Just wondering how long they last (or can last) before causing heart failure. The cardiology vet said that CHF was inevitable anf I think 2-4 years is awfully fast. Am wondering if possibly caused by Lyme, or scar tissue from fighting Lyme infections, so that now I need to be hypervigilant, even if I haven't already been.

Lyme killed my prior sheltie via kidney failure -- I inherited him from someone who was getting forgetful about using Frontline or checking for ticks.

Suspect I'll come around to this being grateful for one day at a time outlook!

I don't want him to pick up on my concern.

Thanks
 
Emma was two last September. She shows no symptoms of the murmur. She is due for her annual checkup this Saturday, so I will ask the vet. Two different vets have given two different grades on it. They did not mention anything to me about CHF in her.

In people (and I speak from experience of having had mitral valve prolapse), this can be a minor problem or a bit more serious, depending on the degree of how much blood flows backwards. Just monitor your dog and keep your vet updated on any symptoms that you might notice. I was told the Grade 1-2 is not significant in most cases. If the grade is higher then there is more concern. I am sure your vet will monitor it closely.

I am not sure if you have a vet college or cardiac specialist close to you, but if you are really concerned, ask for a referral.

How did he make out during the echo? Silly little Emma kept falling asleep on them, she was so relaxed. The vet was laughing about it when she brought her back out.
 
Oh dear we had an older rescue sheltie w/a heart murmur. He started passing out on walks, then around the house upon exertion/excitement. An echo confirmed a serious murmur. He died one morning after DH left for work, so I was tasked with taking his remains to the vet for disposal. We only had him for maybe 6 months.

The worst part to me was that all our other pets have always preferred DH, going to him first for comfort, love, etc. Little Sammy loved ME, he would gaze at me adoringly, run to me first always. He was MY dog! Murphy's Law at work. :cry:

It sounds like your situation is much better. A 2 on a scale of 6 isn't too bad, is it? Also, I'm not sure if our Sammy's murmur was congenital or acquired, as he was an older rescue to us.Good luck to you!
 
I suspect hes probably always had it, as one vet detected it one did not another did...etc! A grade one I would suspect would be hard to pick up just by listening, where an echo would show it. Since it sounds like hes always had it but it was missed by your vet, id just continue with his normal activity and if he shows distress I would limit and recheck with a echo..
 
Hello from a fellow NJ Sheltie owner :-)

I would take him over to Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls for a second opinion, they have some good cardiologists there that might be able to give you a better diagnosis. Maybe just a consult with the results of the echocardiogram.
 
I had a sheltie that was diagnosed with a heart murmer at 6yrs and he lived until he was 14 (cancer got him in the end). It did worsen as he got older but he could still go for walks. The most important thing was to keep him fit, lots of on-leash walks and less running. When he wanted to stop we stopped, then resumed our walks.
 
Murmer

My 12 wk (approx) puppy Bailey was just diagnosed with a heart murmur as well. We are not sure if he was born with it, or if it was a result of the kennel cough & bronchitis he came with as a rescue pup. We are hoping the vet says that it may go away on it's own, because we don't know if we could afford the "worst case scenario" surgery. Hoping to learn more this week.
 
My mum's Sheltie was diagnosed with a grade 1-2 heart mumur at 4-5 mths of age. She was told by the vet that many people live normal lives with similar grade heart mumurs and to just carry on as normal.

Normal in our lives includes agility training and competing, which the vet was well aware of. So we took his advice, the dog is now 6 1/2 years old and still going very strong living a very active life!!!
 
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