Should I risk dental treatment for dog with heart murmur?

[mcporgenic]

Our 6 yr old dog had a check up at the vets last week and told she has a heart murmur (grade 3). I'm not inclined to investigate further as she is fit and healthy and doesn't show any other symptoms. However, she has bad teeth and some need removing under anaesthetic. Is it very risky to be giving her treatment without full diagnosis? Are there other options? Is leaving the teeth a very bad idea? I'd hate to think she is suffering but I also know that many dogs have murmurs and live to a healthy age without going down the route of medication.
Would love to hear if anyone had experience of this. Thank you

You need to speak to your vet

no one should be giving advice on this without knowing more about the murmur and having actually seen your dog

The bacteria from bad teeth can travel in bloodstream and effect cardiovascular system along with dental pain so even if think ok to leave now it's an issue that will only deteriorate further as your dog ages. You could perhaps see specialist to get heart health assessed further & vet maybe take some extra precautions for anesthesia for dental so worth discussing what options/risks are with them.

vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/dental-disease-and-its-relation-to-systemic-disease-in-pets

A grade 3 heart murmur ideally needs investigating further that's the only way a vet can advise you what's best to do in this circumstance

Are you not inclined to investigate further because of expense?

Why don't you want to investigate the heart murmur?

Bad teeth in dogs can lead to lots of different problems - from periodontal disease to heart disease and infections so ideally they need to be removed - but your vet can't tell you how safe the surgery is without first investigating the heart murmur.

If this was my dog, I would get the murmur investigated properly and, in the meantime, use a product like Plaque Off on food to help with the teeth.

Thank you all for your advice. Much appreciated

Rotten teeth can be very dangerous so my gut says go ahead and get doggie's teeth seen to and then make sure to do regular teeth cleaning at home. If a dog's heart condition was so bad that the anaesthetic would be dangerous, the vet would say so. Get reassurance from them.

I think I’m right in saying they can take a couple of extra measures if they know about a murmur in advance. Teeth are definitely worth getting sorted if they need it and taking the slight anaesthetic risk. Your vet will say if the risk is too great for your individual circumstances.

I can understand why you’ve chosen not to investigate further. None of our pets have had a murmur but one of our dogs had occasional fits. They couldn’t find a cause at the vets and we didn’t go to referral as it was unlikely anything could be done and we would be putting her through expensive testing just to know and still may never know. We didn’t throw balls for her anymore, which was a little sad, but she never had another fit.