Cavachon with heart murmur

[Babymamma192]

Hi everyone. Worried sick about my little boy Ted so thought I would post here in the hopes someone can reassure me!

So my cavachon is 7 and he's got an ear infection so took him the vets this morning and while there he's been diagnosed with a heart murmur.

Obviously I wasn't expecting that at all so a bit shocked tbh and i guess it's only developed in the last 6 months because the vet didn't hear anything wrong last time he was there.

She said on a scale of 1-6 Ted's is a 3.
I've not stopped crying all day I'm so worried that I'm gonna loose him. I can't sleep for crying hence posting at this time.

Next step is either a referral to a specialist or a heart scan with the in-house vet.

Have any of you been through this before? Has anyone's cavachon been diagnosed with a murmur and lived a long happy life after?

Grateful for any response/advice

I’m a human doctor, not a vet. In humans, anyway, murmurs can be temporary. They’re quite common when you’re unwell e.g. with an infection. So this might just be linked to the infection (assuming dogs are the same as humans). It doesn’t mean there’s necessarily anything wrong with the heart.

So heartbreaking isn't it, we had the same unexpected diagnosis when our cavvie went in for routine dental examination.

Trouble is this is one of the known issues with cavvies (and I appreciate yours is a cavachon). Ours is also grade 3 and medication is not yet recommended.

Our ddog leads a completely normal life, it's only in the hot weather that I can see him breathing harder but definitely not struggling or upset by it.

My dog (ETA: not a cavvie) is 13 and has had a heart murmur since she was 2. A heart murmur doesn't necessarily lead to congestive heart failure, however, heart problems are incredibly common in cavaliers.

As you have a cavalier cross, I would do the specialist referral if you can afford it (hopefully you have insurance?), and go from there. It's not great news, but try not to jump to the worst case scenario until you know what you're dealing with - easier said than done, I know!

Sadly I’m not surprised, it occurs in like nearly every cav so it’s not surprising it’s in a cav cross.
That said my experience with it occurring in cavaliers is that with medication and a very concious effort to keep them fit and trim is they do tend to go on for a good while after being diagnosed. My last cav was diagnosed at 5 and went on til 15

Thank you all so much for your replies! Really appreciate the info about all your lovely dogs who have had similar!

Yes he's insured so it's looking like the specialist route will be the best thing to do. Hopefully they will get him seen quick so I know what's next!

He's my little shadow and just the sweetest, loveliest boy. My 2 little girls adore him and I just can't bear the thought of him not being here. So glad to hear that he may still have a long happy life with us.

while it is also possible for dogs to have transient heart murmurs, given the breed this is very unlikely to be anything but mitral valve disease, which is generally progressive but, as others have said, can sometimes still have a reasonable prognosis. Early treatment and close monitoring are very helpful, as others have said. There are many ways in which human and canine disease is similar, but also many ways in which they differ very much. This little dog is a very typical age for this problem to develop in this type of breed. OP, hope he does ok - try to think of a prompt diagnosis as a good thing, because it means you now have an opportunity to intervene before signs of heart problems start to bother him, if it does turn out to be MVD. Medication at the right stage can increase lifespan considerably with this problem, good luck.

I'm not sure if I should post or not, but I had two Cavachons, my boy was diagnosed at 6 with a grade 3 murmur he was put on Vetmedin and had yearly check ups with the specialists his check up at 8 the vet was really positive and said if it was his first appointment he wouldn't have actually prescribed the pills for him, but we kept him on them, nothing alarming at his scan when he turned 9, and then he had a couple of days of being quiet and then one morning he was really flat and his breathing rate was very fast, so I rushed him to the vets, he was put on oxygen and high levels of diuretics as he was full of fluid, he was able to come home and was still on diuretics, we had to get him belly bands as he just peed all the time and wasn't aware, he went back to the specialists and it wasn't good news we were sent home with lots of pills but two days later he had lost the light in his eyes and refused a cocktail sausage and just kept flopping on the floor, so we made the hardest decision to let him go, but we had three and half good years with him and I think we were unlucky as many other people have their dogs much longer after diagnosis but we just weren't that lucky, but our other Cavachon who is/was the sister/cousin of my boy is healthy as ox no heart issues at all, although. I still breathe a sigh of relief every time she goes to the vets and gets a clean bill of health.

I hope you are lucky and get many many more years with your boy.