Boxer with heart murmur

[hsmama]

The lady we bought our boxer from has a puppy with a grade two heart murmur. It is so cute. Can anyone give me some info on heart murmurs in dogs/boxers. I'm afraid they will end up putting it down if no one wants it. Maybe that would be better if it's sick? Any info would be helpful. Thanks

 

[kkocks]

I was told when my male was 8 or 9 months old that he had between a 1 to 2 grade heart murmur. They periodically check it and he has been fine, he has never showed any signs of being sick in anyway. When we were first told about it I was so upset, but he is fine. I just pray that he stays that way.

 

[cheerchicki]

One of my pups, Loki, had a grade II heart murmur when we first got her, and ever since, the vets have not been able to hear it, and we were told that she could have grown out of it. But she is fine, a normal boxer! It is as if it was never there, and if it still is, she sure doesn't act like it!

 

[Ozzie'sMom]

My first boxer (male) had a heart murmur as well. He had to have some surgery and they were concerned about it so they wanted a vet heart specialist to look at him before putting him under. The heart specialist told us that most boxers sound like they have heart murmurs because of the size of their chest cavities. My guy lived a long and healthy life.

 

[miri_tx]

Hopefully they don't put the little guy down just because of a heart murmur, expecially when they don't even know if it's going to be a problem or not.

I'm not sure about heart murmurs in dogs, but I have an 11 year old cat that has had a minor heart murmur his whole life that has never caused any problems.

 

[Murp.mm]

I can't comment on boxers with heart murmurs but my last poodle had one and he lived to be 12 and would have lived longer but unfortunately he had to have some of his teeth removed but his little heart couldn't take it. Run happy my sweet little Benji. I will never forget you.

 

[kassa]

If the murmur is still there at 16 weeks I'd have the pup seen by a veterinary cardiologist to grade the murmur and possibly have an echocardiogram done -- barring any genuine malformation, a Gr II murmur isn't life threatening and the pup would probably live a normal life.

As somebody else mentioned, boxers have funny chest cavities and lots of GPs think they hear murmurs (or miss murmurs) because of it. The trained ear of a cardiolgist is your best bet (along with an echocardiogram)

 

[Thira's Mom]

Our boxer was diagnosed as a pup with a grade II heart murmur. She is now 3 1/2 and it has been stable. We have her evaluated by a cardiologist every year. This pup should have a normal, healthy life. I really hope that they do not put it down. Keep us posted.

 

[Dantelover]

The vet told us that our Dante had a heart murmur when we brought her in for kennel cough. We went back a week later for a checkup and the vet said that we had to have her see the cardiologist. The vet said it feels like a 3 but sounds like a 6! we were in hysterics. 6 is really bad. We brought her in for an EKG and Echo and the cardiologist said that everything was perfectly fine and that there was nothing wrong with her. I read on another post about puppies with murmurs that until you have them looked at by an actual cardiologist, don't listen to the vet. In our case that was the absolute truth. We spent a month worrying about our 7 month old puppy and the life that we thought she wouldn't be able to have. She's 9 months old now and is doing great! If you have a connection with this puppy, take her home!!

Dante's mommy
Brindle/docked/floppy

 

[ELubas]

Many times murmurs dissipate when the pup grows up. They need to be graded by a cardiac vet though. My boy has a 5 and has SAS. My last sweet girl had a 2 and died of BCM-sudden death. So murmurs untreated can be a problem and they can be indicative of a problem. Associated disease , however, can often be treated. My boy is over 5 now and going strong. Certainly no reason to destroy a dog-particularly a boxer as murmurs are so prevalent in the breed.