Can a vet diagnose dog heart failure just by listening to its heart?

Yes, it is possible to diagnose heart disease by listening to the heart. And yes if Mia has heart disease, she will need the medication for the rest of her life. Heart disease cannot be cured, the symptoms can only be managed.

Congestive heart failure and pneumonia can certainly have very similar symptoms in dogs - breathing hard, coughing, laying around more than normal, etc. Chest x-rays and blood work would normally help to determine which of these problems your dog has, as results of these tests would be different in congestive heart failure vs. pneumonia. If you have a more specific question about your dog's particular situation, feel free to post again - we would be happy to try and help.

It varies from dog to dog just like in people. Some people rarely cough and other are constantly coughing with heart disease. Your vet will be able to tell a lot just from an exam - listening to her heart and lungs with a stethoscope. If you don't want to take her to the vet then all you can do is monitor her. We cannot diagnose her over the internet. An examination is needed. You can refer to this link for other possibilities for coughing in dogs: ( https://petcentral.chewy.com/why-does-my-old-dog-cough/ )

The only blood test that I am aware of that could show evidence of heart disease would be a proBNP test. This protein increases when there is increased stress on the heart but there can be some false positives and a positive does not always mean heart failure or heart disease. When a veterinarian is suspicious of heart failure they may also recommend running a blood count and chemistry panel to help rule out infections and to check electrolytes and kidney values before starting treatment for heart failure.

I'm sorry your dog isn't doing well! Please keep in mind that I can't say anything for certain without seeing your dog in person, so my opinion comes from my experience. Dogs unfortunately can be very stoic about illness, and oftentimes they are very ill before showing any signs at all. It certainly is possible that your dog has been in heart failure for a while, and it's taken time for signs of it to show. As I said before, dogs can be very ill before showing symptoms and that does frequently happen in dogs with heart failure. Their heart will be failing, and it's only picked up when they suddenly develop exercise intolerance, coughing, or fainting when exercising. If you do feel the vet is wrong, then I'd recommend taking him into another vet for a second opinion. I hope this helps you!

Technically, congestive heart failure (CHF) does not come out of no where since underlying heart disease must be present. However, sometimes these first signs of heart disease are very subtle and can only be detected by an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). Some heart diseases do not even cause physical exam findings, such as heart murmurs, arrhythmias, pulse changes, or changes in the lungs. All of that said, many cases of CHF in dogs and cats can cause changes quite suddenly, such as coughing, exercise intolerance, lethargy, restlessness, and difficulty breathing, making it appear that CHF has come from no where. I hope that explanation helps to provide some clarity.

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.