heart mumour - Page 1

also i had the puppy checked by a vet that told me he has a heart mumour rated at 3.4 on a scale of six and my breeder which seems honest told me that it is not uncommon and to wait until the pup is six months because in most cases they out grow this condition any thoughts would be appreciated

The condition may or may not correct its self, However eighther way, This dog should not be bred as he will pass that to progeny.

Did the breeder tell you this puppy had a murmur when you bought it?

no he did not tell me, he did say that he would pay for what ever cost to find out when the pup is six months old if the murmour is still evident

heart murmur is to generalized a term -- although you may not wish to a specific diagnopstic , can be expensive ... a good veterinarian can get a semblence of the kinf of murmur by listening -- for example .. a aortic shunt has a differnet quality to the sound than an aortic sternosis -- other considerations are mitral valve prolapses and defects -- these are pathologic in anture .. and i have seen a percentage in the show line GSDs -- more than i would have predicyteed stratisataclally [ hence one of my arguments against the past 20 years linebreeding !! , not to mention pancreatic insuffiency , degenerative myelopathy , everybody is so fixated about hips and ellbows .. check these put FYI on search engines] -- murmurs can be a manifistation of how the hear functions too , that is to say there lies no patjhology and the sounds are outgrown with ,maturity .. that is a different issue -- so IMO if you have bought a GSD try to get more a definitive diagnosis -- BTW --i know of a high V dog [ ? if he became VA] that has thrown two pups. two differnet litters [ with diff females] with congenital heart murmurs -- so don't count on fancy titles or show palcings !! -- now can you fellow members see why i am so outspoken about breeding programs , tiltes , show ring etc.-- the health of the GSD has been compromised and perverted due to ..--whatever reasons you think ---

Too bad the breeder didn't tell you about the murmur before you bought the dog.

I agree with Alpapup, the etiology of the murmur is important. I would suggest having the vet do an echocardiogram, 3D,if possible. If your vet does not have that hopefully you can get a referral to have this done. If it is a little mitral valve prolapse it is probably the least problematic. If it is ASD,VSD,aortic stenosis or any of the many ,many congenital defects that are possible you have a problem. These are diagnosed with the echo. I strongly encourage you to look into this. Often the more serious defects if not severe won't show in the activity level of the dog until it grows more and gains more weight.Hope this helps.

Alphapup, in a hundred odd years, breeders have not worsened much of what has not already been there in the dogs that this breed was created with. 100 years ago diagnostics were not as they are today. God only knows what has been put into the GSD cradle in the early years. Do we see more diseases today because we can diagnose them better or because there is actually more of them? When I grew up a GSD was expected to have a life span of 6 years! That was pretty common knowledge. 100 years ago, there was actually far more close inbreeding and line breeding because breeders had very limited access to travel and therefore access to dogs that were outcrosses. *** There are different types of heart murmur. Not every vet will detect a minor heart murmur, so the breeder may not have known. Listen to the wrong side of the heart, or checking the pups in a noisy kennel and it can easily escape detection. Essentially every pup is born with a heart murmur. The two sides of the heart are open before birth, and then close after birth over the course of several weeks as the puppy matures. In most pups that process is completed at around 6-8 weeks. But not in all pups. A juvenile heart murmur will be outgrown and basically means that there is a delayed closure of the heart wall that divides the two halves. Once that type of heart murmur is outgrown it no longer exists and is therefore not something that would exclude a pup from the breeding population. The juvenile heart murmurs are actually quite common and often not even detected. You did not say how old this pup was. You have a baseline now. I would recommend that you take this puppy back in 4 weeks and see if there is an improvement. If there is an improvement then it is most likely the juvenile heart murmur and not much to worry about as this will go away as the heart develops. Right now I would say the outlook is probably positive as the murmur is not very strong. Also if the pup is normal size, striving, eating well, growing, and has a normal activity level, you probably have nothing to worry about. If the breeder is aware of this, he should have either make you aware of it too, or kept the pup for another 4 weeks to see if there is an improvement and then place the pup in good conscience knowing that it is a benign condition that will correct itself. If the breeder is not aware of this maybe you should mention some of these options for his future litters. Good luck with your pup.

THE PUP IS 4 MONTHS

THE PUP IS 4 MONTHS HE EATS FINE AND SEEMS TO BE OK