register for free
View our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
BoxerPhil
New Member!
BoxerPhil is offline  
Location: Chicago, IL
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 4
Male 
 
14-10-2009, 10:18 PM

Slight Murmur

Hey Everyone, this is my first post on these forums, I was doing some research on heart murmurs and came across this forum, and a thread from a couple years back about the same thing drew my attention. I figured I'd ask a question and hope for some help.

My Wife and I just bought our first dog on monday, an 8 and a half week old Brindle boxer pup. And today we went for a health exam at our local vet, all was going well until she started listening to his heart, I could tell something was wrong by how long she listened. She told us he had a slight murmur on the left side and it may be nothing to worry about. My first instinct of course was to worry. So I immediatley got on the phone with my best friend whos a Vet Tech, and told him what they had said, he asked one of his vets who told him the same thing. That puppies can sometimes get these murmurs and can grow out of them.

I'm worried of course, this was our first baby lol. Here we are all excited about watching our puppy grow, and now I have this running through my mind constantly.

Are murmurs more likely in boxers, or is just something any puppy can end up with? He seems to sleep a lot. Is that cause for concern, I know puppies have short bursts of play and long naps, but he seems to sleep more than the average puppy. Is his lethargic tendencies due to the murmur. He's a great puppy otherwise, catching on to house training after two days and just a loveable playful little guy (when hes not curled up in a ball sleeping, okay he's cute then too).

Anyways, any information would be great, thanks in advance.

Phil


Reply With Quote
Lou
Dogsey Veteran
Lou is offline  
Location: U.K
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 18,334
Female 
 
14-10-2009, 10:33 PM
Pups can grow out of them. My dog was a cross breed, we got him at 18 months old, he had a (really bad) heart murmur, he lived until he was 16 They can still live normal lives, and there is medication available if it becomes a problem, later on.

Good Luck with your new pup x
Reply With Quote
madmare
Dogsey Veteran
madmare is offline  
Location: Essex UK
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 6,949
Female 
 
15-10-2009, 05:31 AM
Pups do grow out of them and I have had a dog who had one live to a ripe old age.
My present JRT has quite a marked one and he is 4.5 years old but the specialist said it shouldn't affect him.
If he is being lethargic I would be looking at other reasons being the cause.
Check the colour of his gums, are they nice and pink or do they look pale? If you press on them does the colour return immeadietly you release or is it slow to return?
Is pup up to date with his worming? Has he just had a vaccination.
If you are worried then go back to the vet and get a blood test done and tell them he seems very lethargic.
Do remember though puppies this young do need to sleep a lot like babies and should be left in peace to do so. It may be your pup is just being a normal pup and you have nothing to worry about.
Reply With Quote
BoxerPhil
New Member!
BoxerPhil is offline  
Location: Chicago, IL
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 4
Male 
 
15-10-2009, 06:16 AM
yeah hes up to date on all his shots, he had two today and his last worming was done on monday, hes up to date on everything, I think yesterday was his first day and he seemed a little stressed and overly tired, Today was a whole other story. He was a little fireball. I'm just thinking he's being the average puppy. play hard sleep hard.

As far as the murmur goes, i'm still very worried, but I'm going to try and keep calm until theres something to really worry about. The vet didnt give me much information about it, just said we'll keep an eye on it. My first reaction was to worry. I think I'm in need of a more people friendly vet. She seemed to just want to make sure I got him nuetered and a bunch of other things done instead of giving me the information i wanted about the murmur. Seems like she was more into me spending money then settling us down. I've been lucky, all the animals I've ever owned have been healthy for the most part. So to have a legitmate thing to worry about kind of upset me.

I'm going to keep an eye on him and hope it clears up, because hes already become such a big part of our lives in just three days.

Here's praying everything turns out okay.
Reply With Quote
IsoChick
Dogsey Veteran
IsoChick is offline  
Location: Preesall, Lancashire
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,622
Female 
 
15-10-2009, 08:16 AM
Boxers are a breed that is prone to heart problems generally. There has bene extensive research and heart testing to try and eradicate this from as many lines as possible.

Puppies of all breeds can have murmurs... I think it's to do with them growing quickly. It's usually just a puppy-flow-murmur; and they grow out of them.

Both my boys (Boxers) had them as babies. A 'proper' heart murmur usually can't be confirmed until the dog is older, and has to be confirmed by a cardiologist. A normal vet usually doesn't have the expertise to do this.

BTW, my boys are 2yrs and 3.5yrs and have no sign of any sort of heart problem now!

Please don't worry about this. It isn't an unusual situation, and it annoys me that vets panic puppy owners at so early a stage.

Your pup will do a lot of sleeping (and playing, and eating!), it's just how they work. I remember when ours were pups, they would just stop playing and instantly drop asleep where they were!
Reply With Quote
Jackie
Dogsey Veteran
Jackie is offline  
Location: UK
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,122
Female  Diamond Supporter 
 
15-10-2009, 08:45 AM
Originally Posted by BoxerPhil View Post
Hey Everyone, this is my first post on these forums, I was doing some research on heart murmurs and came across this forum, and a thread from a couple years back about the same thing drew my attention. I figured I'd ask a question and hope for some help.

My Wife and I just bought our first dog on monday, an 8 and a half week old Brindle boxer pup. And today we went for a health exam at our local vet, all was going well until she started listening to his heart, I could tell something was wrong by how long she listened. She told us he had a slight murmur on the left side and it may be nothing to worry about. My first instinct of course was to worry. So I immediatley got on the phone with my best friend whos a Vet Tech, and told him what they had said, he asked one of his vets who told him the same thing. That puppies can sometimes get these murmurs and can grow out of them.

I'm worried of course, this was our first baby lol. Here we are all excited about watching our puppy grow, and now I have this running through my mind constantly.

Are murmurs more likely in boxers, or is just something any puppy can end up with? He seems to sleep a lot. Is that cause for concern, I know puppies have short bursts of play and long naps, but he seems to sleep more than the average puppy. Is his lethargic tendencies due to the murmur. He's a great puppy otherwise, catching on to house training after two days and just a loveable playful little guy (when hes not curled up in a ball sleeping, okay he's cute then too).

Anyways, any information would be great, thanks in advance.

Phil



Hi there, to your question, yes, puppies can sometimes have a puppy murmur which will go away as they grow.

Can I ask when you bought your puppy, did you check the parents had been heart scored...... did you see the certificate showing you the scores.. they should be a 0 or 1.... this is terribly important when buying /breeding Boxers, as they are a breed that suffers with heart problems.

If your puppy has come from clear parents, then it is unlikey the murmur is anythign other a puppy murmur.
Reply With Quote
mo
Dogsey Veteran
mo is offline  
Location: Manchester
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,900
Female 
 
15-10-2009, 08:57 AM
Normally the pup will grow out of this, I would not panic, treat the pup as normal, the vet did say it was a slight murmer, so I wouldnt worry, the only thing I would be concerned about is if at a later date you intened to use the dog at stud, I dont think this would be a good idea, as the breed does have heart issues, and it may be something that can get passed on, but the subseqent pups may have a more severe case. pups do tend to sleep a lot, plus all the excitemnt of being in a new home etc can take a lot out of the pup, so I would expect it to sleep a lot

Mo
Reply With Quote
tawneywolf
Moderator
tawneywolf is offline  
Location: Bolton
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 24,075
Female  Gold Supporter 
 
15-10-2009, 09:10 AM
When you bought your pup had he been vet checked at 6 weeks? Because this would have been picked up then. Also, did your vet say what grade the murmur was?? If it is a grade 1 or below it usually goes before one year of age, like everyone says though, some dogs can have fairly
high grade murmurs and lead perfectly normal lives with medication.
Reply With Quote
shirls
Dogsey Senior
shirls is offline  
Location: LANARKSHIRE
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 350
Female 
 
15-10-2009, 10:25 AM
My boxer Kasha is 3 and has a grade 3/4 murmer. I have been told that this is very common in boxers and chances are it will not cause a problem.
She came via NR Boxer Rescue (she came to me direct from her previous owner so their vet hadn't a chance to check her) They have been great giving me advice and calming my fears as like you I panicked when the vet told me.
Good luck with your pup.
Reply With Quote
taniamiff
Dogsey Junior
taniamiff is offline  
Location: Cambridgeshire, uk
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 183
Female 
 
15-10-2009, 12:54 PM
Hi

My GSD puppy has a heart murmer. This would picked up on both his vet visits at 9&12 weeks. We are going to take him back at 6 months to be re-checked.

I was just wondering at what age you could expect a puppy murmer to have corrected itself by it it was going to?
Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 1 of 2 1 2 >


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools


© Copyright 2016, Dogsey   Contact Us - Dogsey - Top Contact us | Archive | Privacy | Terms of use | Top