# Heart murmur



## mutley66 (Oct 25, 2014)

Hi, we’ve had our 6.5 year old Vizsla Ruby to the vets today for her yearly inoculations. We’ve been told they detected a heart murmur, advising we can wait to see how it progresses or have her scanned. 
we are devastated and shocked at the news. We are getting her scanned on Monday so they can investigate further. I’ve now read on the internet about this and she does have -
• a very occasional cough maybe once a month, 
• she does love to laze about under her blanket during the day when nothing’s happening, which I may have mistakenly put down to being so laid back and chilled. 
• She does pant severely after exercise more so in hot weather but seems to want to continue running.
I may be paranoid after reading the internet but certainly the symptoms match. 
I’d really appreciate any advice you may have experienced with your vizsla
Regards.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

My senior female has developed a low grade heart murmur. It was detected over a year ago.
So far it has not caused her any problems, and the grade has not increased.
At 10 1/2 years old, she now also has arrhythmia. I does make her pant quicker after exercise, but no other systoms. She's happy, and for the most part it does not slow her down.
In some dogs, it's just a part of growing old.
I agree, 6 is young for this to start with Ruby. I would probably have it checked too.


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## mutley66 (Oct 25, 2014)

texasred said:


> My senior female has developed a low grade heart murmur. It was detected over a year ago.
> So far it has caused her no problems, and the grade has not increased.
> At 10 1/2 years old, she now also has arrhythmia. I does make her pant quicker after exercise, but no other systoms. She's happy, and for the most part it does not slow her down.
> In some dogs, it's just a part of growing old.
> I agree, 6 is young for this to start with Ruby. I would probably have it checked too.


Thanks for the reply and information TexasRed, it is greatly appreciated. Ruby certainly doesn’t show any signs of problems when exercising, apart from panting quicker in hot weather as she never wants to ease up! As it’s our first Vizsla I’d be interested to know your opinion and experience of vizslas being laid back and chilled? Is it normal they are content to lay about under a blanket when nothing is going on?? Ours loves to chill out on her bed or our sofa or our bed but I’m now worried it may be linked to this heart murmur???


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

it is normal to be chilled in my experience, different dogs have different temperaments, so that alone and the other symptoms too could be coincidence. In my experience, these are the things always better to be checked by a specialist and / or another vet too. At least that is what i would do, it may turn out to be false alarm or a real issue. Hope your Ruby`s case is just false alarm.


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## mutley66 (Oct 25, 2014)

Thanks for your advice. I’ll keep everyone updated how she progresses. Fingers and paws all crossed.


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## mutley66 (Oct 25, 2014)

mutley66 said:


> Hi, we’ve had our 6.5 year old Vizsla Ruby to the vets today for her yearly inoculations. We’ve been told they detected a heart murmur, advising we can wait to see how it progresses or have her scanned.
> we are devastated and shocked at the news. We are getting her scanned on Monday so they can investigate further. I’ve now read on the internet about this and she does have -
> • a very occasional cough maybe once a month,
> • she does love to laze about under her blanket during the day when nothing’s happening, which I may have mistakenly put down to being so laid back and chilled.
> ...


Hi all, just a quick update say that Ruby’s scans came back all clear with no signs of any issues. The vet suggested it may have been simply due to the fact that she had to go in to get her yearly injections without me; which may have caused her to become anxious and nervous; hence when they listened to her heart they detected it. It’s a massive relief and it was an awful experience having to wait for the results (longest six hours of my life!!). We never take her for granted but events like this do remind you how precious and important our V’s are to us. Thanks for your support and advice.


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