Dog owners do not need to be veterinarians to know that a healthy heart is as important for our furry friends as it is for humans.
Yet there can be a lot of confusion surrounding cardiac issues in animals, especially when it comes to heart murmurs.
Dr. Sonya Wesselowski, an assistant professor of cardiology at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, offers insight on murmurs, given her expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in animals.
Wesselowski describes a heart murmur as an extra whooshing sound heard during a heartbeat that is typically caused by turbulent or rapid blood flow inside the heart. Some murmurs are considered to be harmless, or physiologic, while other murmurs are considered pathologic, or disease-related. In dogs, common reasons for a disease-related heart murmur include leaky or narrowed heart valves.
Not all heart murmurs are dangerous, though.
Some soft heart murmurs can be normal in young puppies under 4-6 months of age, Wesselowski said. The majority of heart murmurs, however, do indicate that some sort of heart abnormality is present.
This might be a congenital abnormality that a dog was born with or an acquired heart disease that developed later in life, with these diseases ranging from mild to severe, she said.
Luckily, if your pup is found to have a heart murmur, there are likely some good treatment options to keep their heart healthy and pumping for as long as possible.
Step one, however, is confirming a diagnosis.
Story continues below video
If your veterinarian identifies a heart murmur in your dog, additional testing should be pursued to determine the type and severity of any underlying heart problems, Wesselowski said. The heart murmur itself should be thought of as a red flag that possible heart disease is present, but it cant speak to the severity of any underlying heart problems, so additional testing is needed to sort out the next best steps.
Some types of heart disease can remain mild for the life of a pet without ever requiring treatment, while others may result in symptoms of heart disease that require cardiac medications, lifestyle changes, and/or diet modifications to combat, she said. Additional testing can help sort out which of these scenarios may be the case for your dog.
The heart is one of the hardest-working organs in the body.
Depending on the results of diagnostic tests, your veterinarian will discuss the prognosis and treatment options available for your dog.
In all cases in which heart disease is identified, it will also be necessary to monitor the condition on a regular basis and to perform periodic diagnostic testing to guide future care.
It is important for owners to not lose heart when it comes to cardiac disease in dogs. With the right treatments, monitoring, and veterinary team working together, owners can keep their beloved dogs active and happy, even in the face of heart disease.
Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics may be directed to editor@cvm.tamu.edu.
Read this article:
Getting to the heart of canine cardiac murmurs - New Castle News
- Muscular Dystrophy - OrthoInfo - AAOS - December 25th, 2017 [December 25th, 2017]
- Adult Stem Cells - Therapies and Treatments - January 3rd, 2018 [January 3rd, 2018]
- Stem Cell Treatment for Cerebral Palsy Beike Biotechnology - January 22nd, 2018 [January 22nd, 2018]
- Crohns Disease and Ulcerative Colitis - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- Ulcerative Colitis - Drugs.com - February 6th, 2018 [February 6th, 2018]
- Eczema Symptoms | Causes | Treatments | Types | Triggers - March 2nd, 2018 [March 2nd, 2018]
- Atopic Eczema - Patient - March 12th, 2018 [March 12th, 2018]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger undergoes heart surgery | Film | The ... - April 4th, 2018 [April 4th, 2018]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger Undergoes Emergency Heart Surgery - April 4th, 2018 [April 4th, 2018]
- Cardiac Surgery - University of California, San Francisco ... - April 4th, 2018 [April 4th, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy Spasticity in Children - Causes, Effects ... - May 6th, 2018 [May 6th, 2018]
- Cardiac catheterization - Mayo Clinic - May 22nd, 2018 [May 22nd, 2018]
- Welcome to the ABG Tutorial - Welcome to Hansen Nursing - May 22nd, 2018 [May 22nd, 2018]
- UKNEQAS for Molecular Genetics - May 23rd, 2018 [May 23rd, 2018]
- Congenital Heart Defects, Simplified - May 23rd, 2018 [May 23rd, 2018]
- Interventional radiology - Wikipedia - May 27th, 2018 [May 27th, 2018]
- Heart Rhythm Abnormalities (Arrhythmias) - NYP.org - May 30th, 2018 [May 30th, 2018]
- Cardiac rhythm abnormalities - symptoms and treatment ... - May 30th, 2018 [May 30th, 2018]
- Pediatric Heart Institute | Children's Hospital Vanderbilt - June 2nd, 2018 [June 2nd, 2018]
- Concentric Remodeling - Cardioserv - June 5th, 2018 [June 5th, 2018]
- Aegean Conferences - June 7th, 2018 [June 7th, 2018]
- 2018 Cardiac Regulatory Mechanisms Conference GRC - June 7th, 2018 [June 7th, 2018]
- Fight Heart Disease - Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute - June 7th, 2018 [June 7th, 2018]
- NHS Direct Wales - Encyclopaedia : Ulcerative colitis - June 11th, 2018 [June 11th, 2018]
- Cannabis Treatment for Parkinson's Disease Green Rush Daily - June 11th, 2018 [June 11th, 2018]
- Diuretics - Pharmacology - Merck Veterinary Manual - June 18th, 2018 [June 18th, 2018]
- 2018 Multiscale Plant Vascular Biology Conference GRC - June 23rd, 2018 [June 23rd, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy Treatment | Birth Injury Guide - July 9th, 2018 [July 9th, 2018]
- Division of Pediatric Cardiology | University of Maryland ... - July 11th, 2018 [July 11th, 2018]
- Nuclear Medicine - Molecular Imaging - Nuclear Medicine ... - July 11th, 2018 [July 11th, 2018]
- Blood vessel - Wikipedia - July 12th, 2018 [July 12th, 2018]
- What is Atrial Fibrillation (AF)? - Heart Foundation NZ - July 15th, 2018 [July 15th, 2018]
- EBR Systems, Inc - July 17th, 2018 [July 17th, 2018]
- Coronary artery disease - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - July 29th, 2018 [July 29th, 2018]
- CV Physiology | Ventricular and Atrial Hypertrophy and ... - July 31st, 2018 [July 31st, 2018]
- Cardiac Surgery Advanced life Support - Home - August 2nd, 2018 [August 2nd, 2018]
- Cardiac Nursing Care: NCP - 5 Nursing Diagnosis for ... - August 2nd, 2018 [August 2nd, 2018]
- Welcome to Hansen Nursing - August 2nd, 2018 [August 2nd, 2018]
- TARA / Innovating predictive cardiac physiology - August 18th, 2018 [August 18th, 2018]
- Board of Directors Summary - Victor Chang Cardiac Research ... - August 18th, 2018 [August 18th, 2018]
- Wound Care - KRMC - September 19th, 2018 [September 19th, 2018]
- Welcome to the ABG Tutorial - Welcome to Hansen - October 13th, 2018 [October 13th, 2018]
- Sudden Death in Dogs - Pet Health Network - October 15th, 2018 [October 15th, 2018]
- gmcheart.com - Cardiovascular Services at Gwinnett Medical ... - November 14th, 2018 [November 14th, 2018]
- Interventional Cardiology | WVU Heart and Vascular Institute - November 21st, 2018 [November 21st, 2018]
- Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) | Symptoms and Causes - November 22nd, 2018 [November 22nd, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy | Boston Children's Hospital - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy | Cleveland Clinic - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy Diagnosis and Treatments | Gillette Children's ... - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral palsy | Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center ... - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Spastic cerebral palsy - Wikipedia - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy - CHASA - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral Palsy Symptoms & Types - WebMD - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Cerebral palsy - NHS - November 27th, 2018 [November 27th, 2018]
- Ventricle (heart) - Wikipedia - December 4th, 2018 [December 4th, 2018]
- Cardiomyopathy - Wikipedia - December 5th, 2018 [December 5th, 2018]
- Cardiomyopathy - British Heart Foundation - December 5th, 2018 [December 5th, 2018]
- Cardiomyopathy | National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute ... - December 5th, 2018 [December 5th, 2018]
- Community Mental Health Centers - MS Department of Mental ... - December 9th, 2018 [December 9th, 2018]
- Atopic dermatitis (eczema) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - December 23rd, 2018 [December 23rd, 2018]
- Dermatitis - Wikipedia - December 23rd, 2018 [December 23rd, 2018]
- Eczema Symptoms & Causes | National Eczema Association - December 23rd, 2018 [December 23rd, 2018]
- Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying ... - December 25th, 2018 [December 25th, 2018]
- Heart Diseases & Disorders - December 25th, 2018 [December 25th, 2018]
- 5 Types of Heart Disease Symptoms, Risk Factors, Causes ... - December 25th, 2018 [December 25th, 2018]
- Different heart diseases - World Heart Federation - December 25th, 2018 [December 25th, 2018]
- Cardiovascular disease - Wikipedia - December 25th, 2018 [December 25th, 2018]
- Cardiac arrest - Wikipedia - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- What Is Arrhythmia? Symptoms, Treatment, Causes & Types - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- Heart arrhythmia - Wikipedia - December 27th, 2018 [December 27th, 2018]
- The Heart Truth - Lower Heart Disease Risk - December 30th, 2018 [December 30th, 2018]
- What are the different types of heart disease? | Heart ... - December 30th, 2018 [December 30th, 2018]
- Radiofrequency ablation - Wikipedia - January 14th, 2019 [January 14th, 2019]
- Singanitropin HGH 100 IU by Singani Pharma - pharmacomstore.ws - February 9th, 2019 [February 9th, 2019]
- Photosynthesis - Definition, Equation and Products ... - March 6th, 2019 [March 6th, 2019]
- Cardiology Conferences | Cardiology World Congress 2019 ... - March 18th, 2019 [March 18th, 2019]
- 2019 Tissue Repair and Regeneration Conference GRC - April 2nd, 2019 [April 2nd, 2019]
- The SHaRe Cardiomyopathy Registry - April 8th, 2019 [April 8th, 2019]
- Heart arrhythmia - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic - April 20th, 2019 [April 20th, 2019]