Need Help Understanding Heart Murmurs in Puppy

[wayfaringman]

I took my 9-week old vizsla puppy to the vet for her first visit on 3/20. The vet diagnosed her with a grade 4 heart murmur. X-rays showed her heart was normal size and general structure (of course an echocardiogram can tell us real story). That known, we are waiting to see how she looks at her next appointment in four weeks.

Here's the weird part I don't understand, the breeder is very reputable and assured us their vet (different vet than I use) who has been practicing for 35 years checked her last on 3/4 and found no heart murmur. The breeder more or less told us she thinks our vet got it wrong. There's that. But our vet, who we also trust, says you don't mishear grade 4 murmurs. We're going into an altogether different vet tomorrow for another opinion/evaluation to try and get some clarity.

I guess right now, I'm trying to educate myself on heart murmurs. I've learned low level murmurs are very common in puppies, especially athletic breeds. But, again, we are talking about something more significant - a grade 4. Anyone been through heart murmurs before? Can such a significant one develop in a 16-day timespan? Is it possible our puppy was nervous or something, that led to a misdiagnosis?

 

[shela710]

@wayfaringman Very easy to detect. You could probably hear a 3 or 4 by putting your ear up to its chest. Hard for a vet to mess this one up.

Depending where the murmur will tell you how severe it actually is.

My dog had a 4 when I adopted her, and it got better over time. By the time she was 12ish, the vet couldn't even hear it with a stethoscope.

 

[wayfaringman]

@shela710 Thanks for the reply. When you say 12, are you talking years, months, or weeks?

 

[shela710]

@wayfaringman Years. She had a pulmonic stenosis.