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Original poster

Grade 4 heart murmur in chihuahua

6 replies

Mrscouldron · 09/05/2023 20:27

Hi All

Our 9 year old chihuahua has been diagnosed with a grade 4 heart murmur today. The vet has said there isn’t much we can do just make sure she isn’t over stressed. She said the usual life expectancy for this would be between 1-2 years. Does any one have any experience of this? Did your dog go on for longer than this. Our dog isn’t massively symptomatic. She’s quite lazy and does cough a little in the mornings. She still enjoys walks and holidays with us. She eats fine and seems quite happy.

OP posts:
WhiteArsenic · 09/05/2023 20:33

did your vet not suggest any investigation or medication? In a dog of this breed and age this is likely to be mitral valve disease if this is a new murmur, in which case the right drugs at the right time can make a significant difference to her life expectancy. I would suggest you pursue some investigation to find out how her heart is (the murmur alone doesn’t tell you how bad heart disease is) and whether treatment would be helpful at this stage. I’m a vet.

Original poster
Mrscouldron · 09/05/2023 20:38

The vet said that in her opinion medication would be a waste of our money. She gave the impression that basically all the time our dog has a good quality of life we just carry on as we are but to be prepared for her not living many years longer.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mrscouldron · 09/05/2023 20:41

Also not sure if this is relevant but she also has the dislocating knee caps which were operated on but returned. She also has a collapsing trachea. Neither of these things affect her quality of life though. She can walk fine and doesn’t appear to be in pain and the honking from the trachea is occasional.

OP posts:
helenjerome · 09/05/2023 20:54

I took my JR, age12, to the vet in March for her teeth. Vet found a heart murmur and didn’t seem overly concerned. I asked for proper check up as she would be having an anaesthetic.
Two weeks later she was examined by animal cardiologist and as pp mentioned, found to have Mitral Valve disease. Now on medication and expected to live normal life span. She’s full of beans but I have to keep an eye on her, in case she gets a cough or overtired.
if I were you I’d ask your vet for further investigations.

Original poster
Mrscouldron · 09/05/2023 21:06

helenjerome · 09/05/2023 20:54

I took my JR, age12, to the vet in March for her teeth. Vet found a heart murmur and didn’t seem overly concerned. I asked for proper check up as she would be having an anaesthetic.
Two weeks later she was examined by animal cardiologist and as pp mentioned, found to have Mitral Valve disease. Now on medication and expected to live normal life span. She’s full of beans but I have to keep an eye on her, in case she gets a cough or overtired.
if I were you I’d ask your vet for further investigations.

Yes I think I’m going to take her back and ask for further investigation.

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 10/05/2023 22:59

Mrscouldron · 09/05/2023 20:38

The vet said that in her opinion medication would be a waste of our money. She gave the impression that basically all the time our dog has a good quality of life we just carry on as we are but to be prepared for her not living many years longer.

The Quest and Epic studies (large scale multi centre, multi national clinical trials) would disagree with that particular vet.

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