Heart Murmer

[jasonc6568]

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hi guys,

i have just returned from the vets after getting jack his 2nd injection and check-up, the vet has said he has a slight heart murmer (exscuse my spelling if its wrong), admitedly she did say that his heart was going "really quite fast" and that it could be caused by the stress of the situation he was in, ie injections, identi-chip being put in etc etc, i was just wondering if this is a known or common ailment with whippets as i must admit it has worried both me and the misses, any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. i hope you all had a great easter and i await your comments.

many thanks

jason debbie and "tiger-jack"!!

 

[posh totty]

i had this with a pup i bred and it was explained to me by a sighthound vet not an average vet that whippets can sound as if they have murmurs but please dont worry this is highly unlikely but if you are truly worried then take your pup to a vet that has a lot of experience in whippetr or greyhounds and they will tell you for certain wether there is or insnt a murmur , the pup i bred did not have a murmur after all :thumbsup:

 

[Seraphina]

Do not know how frequently it occurs Whippets, but it certainly exists. I would not worry too much though, I have known dogs with murmurs who lived quite normal and long lives. One Dane pup was diagnosed with such a bad one it was recomended she 'd be PTS as there was no way she will live to be 6 months. Her breeders, my friends, would not hear of that and decided to keep her for the rest of her life. Which they did, the whole 10 years.

As the vet said, it may be a false alarm. I would take him back in another few weeks time and see what he is like when he has no needle stuck in him :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[Janimal]

I was also told Kobi had a heart murmur when he had his first check up with my vet. When I took him back and had him checked by the head vet......no sign of the murmur at all.

His explanation was that because whippets have a deep chest, sometimes inexperienced vets can misinterpret as a heart murmur.

 

[beaker]

i've heard that whippets and other long boned dogs are often misdiagnosed as puppies, particularly during the period when these bones are doing their most growing,

i'm no vet so can't confirm this but the explaination i was given was that cartilage tissues in their bodies (which includes both joint cartilage and valve (heart) tissue) remain softer and more plyable for longer than shorter bone breeds to allow for the massive body chages when the long bones have that big growth spurt (the bit where the pups look like newborn foals, lol)

most of these 'heart murmurs' caused by soft immature valves have resolved themselves by around 20 weeks,

i'd get a grey/whippy specialist to check again for a murmur around this time :thumbsup:

hope everything goes ok :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[dana]

dana my jrt has had a heart mumer all her life and she is 10 and going strong. i wouldnt be overly concerned, just make sure the vet checks it everytime u take him in for booters.

 

[talisman]

Hi

I freeked out one day when my pup was sitting on my knee and I could feel her heart beating really clearly on my hand. It didnt feel right at all. A lot slower and it missed beats. I looked up on the net to see if whippets were prone to heart problems. I read that they are genetically made different to other dogs as in the heart beats slower and feels like it is missing beats to compensate on when they are running and then it beats at a normal pace. It also said to make sure your vet is whippet savvy as it can be mistook for a murmer and lots of whippets have been on medication for no reason.

Not sure how true this is but my girls heart does feel a lot different to my jack russels

Wendy

 

[~elizabeth~]

I freeked out one day when my pup was sitting on my knee and I could feel her heart beating really clearly on my hand. It didnt feel right at all. A lot slower and it missed beats.Not sure how true this is but my girls heart does feel a lot different to my jack russels

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Yes, mine are the same and my (greyhound) vet says it's perfectly normal and, if anything, a sign of a fit dog. :thumbsup:

 

[JAXASS14D]

We had a boxer bitch who had a grade 3 heart murmur and this was diagnosed by a cardaeologist . She lived a perfectly normal life and died age 13 with no drugs what so ever .

The specialist told us that most vets don't have the proper experience to identify a murmur and that even the movement of the stethoscope on the dogs hair can sound like one .

http://www.rocksetdesigns.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

 

[dessie]

Sighthounds have a lower heart rate and higher PCV than other breeds to take into account the adrenalin rush when they accelarate and gallop at full speed. If their body was not adapted like this they would all drop down dead with the blood pressure rise!!

Moriarte's Vet is quite correct in that a heart murmur can develop in any very fit mammal, it is a common phenomena in human athletes and racehorses. Once they are 'let down' and not so fit, the heart murmur will disappear.

 

[almondjd]

Hello all,

As I understand it, whippet puppies can quite often have murmurs at a young age which they eventually grow out of. Also, I have a 2 year old bitch that was diagnosed with a murmur last year. When she was seen by the veterinary cardiologist, he performed the doppler exam on her and found that although she did have a murmur, it was an 'innocent murmur' in that there was no pathology associated with it (no valve or other problems whatsoever). Apparently, it is not that uncommon in the 'windhounds.' The problem comes when there is PDA or faulty valves in the heart.

Jalynn Almond

DuMond

 

[jasonc6568]

Hi would just to thank everybody for there thoughts on this and it has certainly put our mind at rest for now till we take him back in 3 months, hopefully he will get the all clear, fingers crossed. thanks again

jason and debbie

 

[Macha]

I remember there has been a previous k9 discussion on this topic

I had a whippet years ago who was diagnosed (as an adult) with a heart murmur. The vet didn't think it would cause the dog any problems, and it didn't.

 

[pollyanna]

Lily, the 13 year old whippet we recently adopted, also has a heart murmur ( verified by 2 different vets a few weeks apart - we thought it might be due to her being starved the first time).Doesn't seem to cause her any problems and she isn't on any medication for it.

Hope that helps! They seem to be able to live to a good age in spite of it. :thumbsup:

 

[hellybobs]

My first whippet had a severe heart murmour and it affected both sides of her heart.

She was only 12 weeks old when she went to the bridge.

 

[LJM]

When I took my whippet for his booster at age of 6 years, we had to wait ages & he was stressing lots, then when the young vet listened to his heart she said it was VERY fast & he had a murmer, well can you wonder at it!

He was as fit as a fiddle & was never bothered by this so called murmer.

 

[~elizabeth~]

Thought these statistics from the whippet health survey might be interesting.

Although cardiac problems are the second highest health issue reported (13%) the median age of whippets dying from this condition seems to be around 12, which is pretty close to the median average for all dogs. It is the main cause of death after old age, but doesn't seem to affect many until middle age or older.

 

[Happy Humber]

There is a line in whippets which is affected with heart trouble, my dogs father went to the bridge at just six years old and his sire at eight. But this type of problem does not develop untill four to six years and seems to be similar to the problem cavalier spaniels get.

Sadly because it is late developing dogs have been bred from before you know they have it.