|
Welcome to the YorkieTalk.com Forums Community - the community for Yorkshire Terriers. You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. You will be able to chat with over 35,000 YorkieTalk members, read over 2,000,000 posted discussions, and view more than 15,000 Yorkie photos in the YorkieTalk Photo Gallery after you register. We would love to have you as a member! Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please click here to contact us. |
|
| LinkBack | Thread Tools |
01-18-2016, 04:30 PM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: ma
Posts: 25
| heart murmur ten yr old yorkie Hi, I took my Tedy to the vet today because he has been coughing a bit more than usual lately and was also worried about his weight gain and recovery from kidney stone surgery. He has always occasionally done a cough cough hack sound ever since he was a puppy but I noticed he was doing it a bit more and got a bit concerned.The vet said his lungs were clear, heart rhythm and rate were normal but did hear a mild heart murmur. She prescribed some meds for his cough and said to see how he did with that. I was relieved since I am still catching up from the huge bill that I just had from his kidney stone surgery 10 months ago but now am wondering if I should have gotten the testing done immediately to further investigate about the murmur. He is my baby and I don't know what I would do without him! |
Welcome Guest! | |
01-19-2016, 04:19 AM | #2 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Many many dogs live for years and years w/ heart murmurs. My Wylie has one but it's now barely audible to the vet since he's on Enalapril. What med is yours on...?
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
01-19-2016, 07:15 AM | #3 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: SAUK CITY, WI, USA
Posts: 2
| I had a Maltese with a heat murmur that was diagnosed about age 10 and he lived to over 16 years old. He did end up taking a relatively inexpensive prescription med (about $8 a month), that seemed to help a lot. The vet wanted him to see a cardiologist and I turned it down because she said that they could do heart surgery but it probably wouldn't prolong his lie by much anyway. Well, he lived another 6 years without it! Good luck...and lots of love to your little buddy! |
01-19-2016, 11:08 AM | #4 |
T. Bumpkins & Co. Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New England
Posts: 9,816
| My dog 15.5 year old Barney has had a heart murmur forever. He's on a small dose of an ACE inhibitor. I have been told for a year that he is "about to go into heart failure" and just yesterday he bolted across the yard without getting tired when I offered him a cookie. These dogs can live a long time with proper management. As for whether to test more, I would find out what the grade of the murmur is. I only took Barney to a cardiologist when he was at a grade II going into a III. He didn't have chamber enlargement until last year when it was a solid Grade III. That's when he went on his meds. He's now a grade IV and no other meds have been added yet. When he goes into failure they'll add Pimobendan and Lasix. He could live a year after that. Unfortunately my dog has a severely collapsing trachea which will probably take him down before the heart does. Anyway I would talk to you vet about further testing. We usually do xrays (3-view) which can be costly and also once a year echocardiogram (also pricey). I have only done two so far. Did your vet give meds for the cough due to the trachea? If the lungs were clear, then perhaps the vet was concerned that the cough was not the heart at all. What med did they give you?
__________________ Washable Doggie Pee Pads (Save 10% Enter YTSAVE10 at checkout) Cathy, Teddy, Winston and Baby Clyde...RIP angels Barney and Daisy |
01-19-2016, 11:49 AM | #5 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: ma
Posts: 25
| Thanks for your responses! He was put on Doxycycline, she did feel the cough was not related to the heart murmur. He has a follow up appointment in two weeks, I think at that time I will ask for further testing. She had mentioned that they could do a chest x-ray and\or an ekg. Any advice as to if I should have both done? I would think the Ekg would be more beneficial? |
01-20-2016, 06:00 AM | #6 |
T. Bumpkins & Co. Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: New England
Posts: 9,816
| I would start with an X-ray.
__________________ Washable Doggie Pee Pads (Save 10% Enter YTSAVE10 at checkout) Cathy, Teddy, Winston and Baby Clyde...RIP angels Barney and Daisy |
Bookmarks |
|
|
| |
|
|
SHOP NOW: Amazon :: eBay :: Buy.com :: Newegg :: PetStore :: Petco :: PetSmart