ol26 2 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Our 2 year old saluki has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur which seems to have developed in the last 12 months.. Anyone had any similar experiences? The misses is well worried about him.. Noticed his heart beat felt a bit spongy the other night.. Other than that he is a fit healthy dog.. Got him on gentle exercise till he's looked at next week again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
desertbred 5,490 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 some saluki lines are prone to heart problems but usually in later life. Is it a pure saluki and what are its lines? Pm if you prefer Quote Link to post Share on other sites
milliken 791 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 fly my old whippet dog had a heart murmer and fluid in his lungs at 6 year old i was advised by the vet to keep him on tablets the rest of his life without hard excerise or have him put to sleep in my heart of hearts i knew i could not do it to him the dog had been so loyal to me from i got him at 6 weeks we took all sorts of game together from rat to fox so rightly or wrongly i desided i would just work him to i felt it was the right time to have him put to sleep see this dog lived of work and was only happy when out in the field doing his job in my eyes for him to see me heading out with the other dogs i would of broke him needless to say i worked him for 3 more season and he took everything i put him at with out any bother but the he just looked at me with that look and i knew it was time this a pic 3 days before he was put to sleep 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigdaz 688 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 My old dog was diagnosed with a heart murmer at a young age, fluid was going into his lungs when he exerted himself and he was run hard. I decided what was to be would be and continued as I was doing and he was run a damn sight harder than the majority of dogs. If he was going to go he would go doing what he loved best. He was still taking double numbers on the lamp at eleven and caught his last hare at twelve running with his daughter and eventually had to be pts at nearly sixteen because his back end gave out, his heart was still fine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kanigra 110 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Make sure its definatley a heart murmour.The vet said my dog had a murmor i spoke to a greyhound vet & he said its a common mistake that small practice vets make.Because running dogs hearts are big the ventricles & atriums open & close very very slightly out & some normal vets diagnose this as a murmour.Take your dog to a greyhound vet there specialists.Good luck hope this helps. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moll. 1,770 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Make sure its definatley a heart murmour.The vet said my dog had a murmor i spoke to a greyhound vet & he said its a common mistake that small practice vets make.Because running dogs hearts are big the ventricles & atriums open & close very very slightly out & some normal vets diagnose this as a murmour.Take your dog to a greyhound vet there specialists.Good luck hope this helps. Interesting that Quote Link to post Share on other sites
frankel 2,123 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 I wouldn't worry at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ol26 2 Posted July 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Cheers for the comments, taking him to a specialist next week. Could just to a huge noisy saluki heart! Let's hope so. No other symptoms. The girlfriends worrying like mad though. Tis her favourite! Will update with any news. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kanigra 110 Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Good luck mate. Not saying it isn't a murmour but if your dog hasn't got any other symtoms then it could be what alot of small practice vets mistake as a murmour.Let us know the out come? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sandymere 8,263 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 The heart if a system of valves and chambers that efficiently moves blood around the body. Normal heart sounds, such as the double beat we are all used to, are the blood being passed from chamber to chamber through the valves. When the heart is still growing there is often a mismatch in sizes of valves etc that leads to blood flowing less efficiently through the system causing ‘turbulence’. The sound of this turbulence, a murmur, is graded 1 to 6 based on how loud it is. The louder the sound the more turbulence which equates to how effective or not the heart will be. As the heart matures these size mismatches usually resolve and the heart develops normal efficient flow so the sounds disappear. . Occasionally there can be murmurs in mature animals which is caused by similar turbulence and as you are doing they need proper evaluation by a vet that knows their stuff. These can develop through damage to the heart although may have been there since puppyhood and just never picked up. Whether genetic or through damage it will important to find out how bad it is, what grade, as this will decide the future of the dog ie low grade then likely live a normal life against high grade causing a very inefficient heart and never being able to work. Alas if it is diagnosed as a heart murmur is diagnosed in a mature animal I wouldn’t use it for breeding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riohog 5,707 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Our 2 year old saluki has just been diagnosed with a heart murmur which seems to have developed in the last 12 months.. Anyone had any similar experiences? The misses is well worried about him.. Noticed his heart beat felt a bit spongy the other night.. Other than that he is a fit healthy dog.. Got him on gentle exercise till he's looked at next week again. its common tyhese days among good breeders to scan before mating ,to check if there is any heart defects some geneticly passed on .the few lines in the uk a vert tight , and in the past there wasnt alot of choice ,i guess most dont give a shite when breeding they just put together what they can get hold of and either dont know ,or dont care about any underlying problems ,, they just see the ££££££££££££ sighn 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dawn B 212 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 What grade did he say the murmur was? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skycat 6,173 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Taken from a Deerhound forum: http://www.scottish-deerhound.com/forum/14-health-issues/32873-things-your-vet-might-not-know Deerhounds have marked sinus arrhythmia, which means that their heart speeds up when they breathe in, and slows down when they're breathing out. This change in heart rate sometimes alarms owners. If it is "regularly irregular" that is normal- it is the irregularly irregular heartbeat that signals a problem. All dogs have sinus arrhythmia, but in the dogs with slower heart rates it's more obvious. Salukis often have a very slow heart rate as well. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bunnys 1,228 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 i have known puppy flow murmurs low grades in tight bred stock , and they have grown them out in a few weeks . the deerhound does seemto come over as abox of problems , like most pure lines of today there better for the xs . atb bunnys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Romany 1,065 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 I sold 3 deerhounds to America, and if your exporting dogs they have to have a vets check, I got all three checked by a dogs vet who used to work with the greyhound tracks..I go a phone call from over the pond saying one of them had been checked at their end and had a heart murmur, asked them to get a second opinion from a vet that knew the breed, and it came back clear..so the running dog thing could be right. A lot of deerhounds nowerdays have heart problems (cardio myopathy) but thats with the introducing of wolfhound into the breed to meet the current show trends of exagerated size... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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