Hi all, My Shar pei is 3 and a half months old and was diagnosed with heart murmur today. The vet mentioned it was mild, he wasn't able to give me a grade and recommended an ultrasound. I wanted to ask you if you think i could wait and have her heart closely monitored until she gets a bit older? I heard some breeds can have innocent heart murmur until they reach 5 months. I would appreciate hearing from your experience.
A lot depends on what grade the heart murmur is. A grade 2 or less [an innocent murmur] which can only be heard in one place with a stethoscope usually resolves by the time the puppy is 4-5 months old. Grade 3 or higher needs to be checked by a veterinary cardiologist, as soon as possible, especially if it can be felt when examining the puppy. It requires an ultrasound of the heart to know what grade the murmur is and if I were you I would have it done now in case it could possibly worsen. You say that the puppy has only just been diagnosed with a heart murmur - were the puppies not checked by a veterinarian before they were sold? I think you should check with the breeder and tell them about your puppy.
Thanks for your reply, I checked with the breeder, she was perfectly healthy including her parents and other puppies from the litter. My understanding was that the grade can be detected with a stethoscope and depending on the grade they recommend having further investigation. The vet wasn't able to tell me the grade so i was thinking about having a second opinion before having an ultrasound or other procedures done.
