My dog has a level 4 heart murmur. Do I need to see a cardiologist?

Old dogs often suffer from endocardiosis, a condition where the heart valves do not close properly any more and the heart needs to work much harder to pump oxygenated blood to all the regions of the body. When the valves do not close properly the swirling blood makes a noise and depending on the volume of the noise we assign it grades. A grade or level 4 heart murmur on a scale of 5 would be a serious heart murmur, on a scale of 6, not quite so serious. Here is some excellent information: http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/heart-murmurs-in-dogs/3912

A murmur is the sound of abnormal blood flow through the heart. It is not an indication of function. The next step would be to have an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) performed on Molly. This would assess cardiac architecture as well as function. An echo can be done by your veterinarian and then submitted to a veterinary cardiologist for review or you can schedule it directly with a specialist. Afterwards, medications would be dispensed if indicated. Life expectancy would be determined by the severity of her condition. This could be discussed with the veterinarian after results of the echo are returned.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! No, these are not typically performed in animals. Heart murmurs do not always require therapy but when they do, these are most of the time treated with medications. I highly recommend you consider having Murphy evaluated by a veterinary cardiologist to determine if treatment is needed and what would be best for it. Good luck!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Tracker has a heart murmur. Dogs can have heart murmurs for a number of reasons (physiologic murmurs, murmurs due to anemia or low red blood cell count), but the most common cause is due to a structural issue with the heart. This is most often associated with the heart valves. A murmur occurs because the valves aren't functioning properly, causing the blood flow to be more turbulent and produce an audible sound (when ausculted with a stethoscope). An ultrasound of the heart (called an echocardiogram) allows a veterinarian to look at the structure of the heart and determine the degree of dysfunction in any of the valves. Some dogs do not require medication if the structural issues are mild, but if they are severe, your veterinarian may recommend certain medications to help Tracker's heart function the best it can and therefore keep him alive and well as long as possible. I hope this is helpful!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your potential new puppy. Young puppies can occasionally have what is known as an innocent murmur. This is a heart murmur they will outgrow usually by 6 months of age and is not associated with any ongoing disease. Other murmurs are associated with congenital heart disease and go on to cause the puppy significant disease. I recommend having the puppy evaluated by a board certified veterinary cardiologist. A procedure known as an echocardiogram will likely be needed to assess for any structural heart disease. This will give you the longterm prognosis for the puppy. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Soren. A heart murmur is due to a leaky valve in the heart allowing blood to flow in the wrong direction. I typically recommend having x-rays taken of the chest to evaluate the heart and lungs. I will a lot of times recommended an ultrasound of the heart knowns as an echocardiogram as well. I refer my patients to a cardiologist for this procedure. Being a young dog, the murmur could be due to a congenital defect. A lot of times, the results are great and the cardiologist informs us that the murmur is nothing that we need to worry about in the future. If there is a concern though, it is best to know about sooner rather than later. I hope this information helps!

Hi there! A murmur just means an abnormal sound was detected when the vet listened to the heart with his/her stethoscope - it can be caused by many different things. The most common heart problems in dogs that could cause a heart murmur would include valvular insufficiency (a "leaky" mitral valve, usually), aortic or pulmonic stenosis (narrowing of the opening to the aorta or pulmonary artery), or dilated cardiomyopathy, in which the heart becomes stretched out and doesn't contract strongly anymore. Most of the heart problems we see in veterinary medicine are not correctable by surgery, and open-heart surgery of the type that is done on humans is not done in veterinary patients - so unfortunately this isn't an option. To determine what is causing the murmur and see if any treatment is needed, I would recommend talking to your veterinarian about chest x-rays and an ultrasound of the heart, called an echocardiogram. These tests are needed to diagnose the specific problem that is causing the murmur, and will guide treatment decisions from there depending on what is found.