14 year old dog and heart murmur

[Anonymous]

I went to Banfield for a scan of my dog's microchip and for a heartworm meds prescription renewal/fecal test.

The vet told me she heart a heart murmur. She ran through some options.

I was trying to follow. I have everything written down. She said my dog needed more tests/xrays for possible treatment/medication (not surgery). It sounded like this was something only a specialist vet could do, that not every vet office has the equipment to perform these types of tests/xrays.

Do I need to find a special vet that specializes in senior dogs or do most vets have the capability in office to do the testing/exams for treatment for a heart murmur?

I wanted to get my dog's medical records from my previous vet and find a vet's office. I'm treating this like it's an emergency. The vet said it may not be an emergency. That her dog has a heart murmur and the vet runs tests/exams every 6 months, no meds or treatment.

Does anyone know anything about this? Yes, I did a Google search. I know a heart murmur could be deadly or not.

[Anonymous]

My moms had a heart murmur her whole life. I don’t know if that’s helpful or not, but I’ve never thought of a heart murmur as that big a deal.

[Anonymous]

A 14 year old dog lol do nothing

My dog has had one for over 12 years a virus attacked her litter in utero.

A dog cardio is who you see if you want to super expensive and most likely they will do nothing .

We saw one in Gaithersburg super nice practice near Fair grounds I think VRA practice


I’d find a new vet.

[Anonymous]

My old girl was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 12 and passed at 14, but not from the murmur. We managed her care with our regular vet, no specialist required. I would tread carefully with Banfield especially if they suggest tests/treatment outside the scope of what seems normal or acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My old girl was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 12 and passed at 14, but not from the murmur. We managed her care with our regular vet, no specialist required. I would tread carefully with Banfield especially if they suggest tests/treatment outside the scope of what seems normal or acceptable.

I relocated. I was able to use a free coupon for Banfield for that day. I just needed a microchip scan of my dog. The vet seemed genuine, not like she was trying to upsell. I don't think they had the vet or equipment needed to perform any of the tests.

They were trying to upsell me on their "plan," which I declined.

[Anonymous]

I own a breed on which heart murmurs are pretty much inevitable. My older dog had one for a couple of years before she died. The murmur was not the cause of death.

Did the Banfield vet say what grade murmur? I think they are graded 1-4 with 4 being the worst. Maybe it goes up to 5. Anyway, I would first get a second opinion from a different regular vet. The vet diagnoses a heart murmur just by listening. We had one vet tell us our dog had a murmur when she was much younger, only for another vet to say she didn’t. I think the first vet saw the breed and “heard” it. We knew it was real years later when multiple vets heard it. Chances are with a 14 yr old dog it’s real, but might as well try to save yourself the time and money if possible.

If another vet confirms it, and it’s more than a grade 1 or 2, you would need to go to a cardiologist. It will run you about $800 for them to do a full exam. The main concern is whether the heart is enlarged. That’s when meds are required. It may be tempting to do nothing, but untreated heart failure will cause suffering. Better to go on meds and prolong life/keep them comfortable as long as you can unless it’s really severe (unlikely if it didn’t pop up until now).

Good luck. We like CVCA if you do need a cardiologist.

[Anonymous]

Very common in senior dogs. You can medicate for it.

[Anonymous]

It is unlikely to be something of concern and very unlikely to be the fatal thing for that old a dog. I had a dog who was diagnosed with a heart murmur as a young adult and by the time he was 12 it had progressed to the point where he needed a daily pill, a simple and cheap medication. And he died of other things entirely in the end.

As a PP mentioned, CVCA, with multiple locations in the area, is an excellent specialist cardiac vet. A cardiac ultrasound will run a few hundred dollars and will give you a baseline to let you know if there is anything of pressing concern or anything that warrants medication. I think with a dog that old it would be fine not even to pursue it and just to let your regular primary vet have a listen at the next checkup to see if they still hear it and how pronounced it is. Good news is if you do want to do the cardiac workup with CVCA, it is entirely noninvasive and requires no anesthesia, just an ultrasound. You get to stay in the room during the test and help reassure your dog, and the vet will explain everything they see. I've never seen a CVCA vet I didn't love—great dog-side and people-side manners.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a scam. I had this diagnosis for a 3yr old dog and got guilted into seeing the dog cardiologist to run an echocardiogram. What a joke. All it meant was that for the rest of her long life, 15 years, I had to pay a lot extra for dental cleanings and minor surgeries because of her “heart murmur” she needed different sedation. It was never treated and she never had any side effects. Why bother for a 14 yr old dog?

[Anonymous]

I have a 14 year old cat with a likely heart murmur. It does not appear to cause any discomfort and honestly the vet is guessing based on listening to his heart. Yes they have to go to a specialist vet to get the scans to confirm or rule it out.

Cat HATES going to the vet. He's getting old. Am I going to go to a specialist to get a cardiogram (for several thousand dollars apparently) in order to be told he either (1) does have a murmur and it can be treated with expensive medication he also won't like until he dies of natural causes in a few years anyway with no clarity on whether the treatment in any way prolonged or improved his life or (2) he doesn't even have a murmur.

NO because my concern here is giving my cat a nice life at home not prolonging his life to the max and wasting money on crap I could instead spend on literally anything else. If my concern was propping up the veterinary medicine industry (which is primarily run by private equity funds now) and helping some vet specialist pay off their ridiculous loans then I would go get the test. But I do not view those things as my -- or my cat's -- problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a scam. I had this diagnosis for a 3yr old dog and got guilted into seeing the dog cardiologist to run an echocardiogram. What a joke. All it meant was that for the rest of her long life, 15 years, I had to pay a lot extra for dental cleanings and minor surgeries because of her “heart murmur” she needed different sedation. It was never treated and she never had any side effects. Why bother for a 14 yr old dog?

Well aren't you a peach.

If a murmur is present, it is due to turbulent blood flow as it goes thru the heart. This is fluid dynamic - problem with the fluid (the blood) or a problem with the pump (the heart). Murmurs are graded on a scale of I to VI. Severity of murmur doesn't always equal severity of disease.

Aren't you lucky that your dog's murmur didn't cause clinical issues??? For some dogs, that is not the case. Congestive heart disease is a terrible illness and compensated heart disease can be complicated during anesthesia, which is why drug choice and active monitoring is critical.

CVCA has many offices in the area and they are amazing.

[Anonymous]

Our vet told me our dog had a heart murmur and I should consider taking her to pet cardiologist. I never did and then a couple years later she had episode where she was panting. We took her to emergency vet and cvca cardiologist who diagnosed her with congested heart failure. She’s on multiple meds and doing okay. But I wish I had taken her sooner because they could have been watching it and given her meds sooner. As others have said, cvca is wonderful.