Cardiologist/murmur advice?

Hey Everyone,
We just picked Fiona up from her spay/hernia repair/microchipping, and our vet thinks she might have heard a very slight murmur We'd rather play it safe and get her checked out by a cardiologist. I know some local AKC events have cardiologists come who do screening clinics. Does anyone know anything about that? I think the UC Davis Vet school has good cardiologists as well, so I will look into that. I'd appreciate advice/tips! I'm trying not to overly worry, as this could very well be nothing. :xfngr:

On a good note, Fiona's spay went very well, they repaired her hernia with no problems and she is now finally microchipped! She has also gained almost 2 pounds since changing her food and is now almost 13 pounds! She doesnt look as skinny and her hip bones arent sticking out as much as they used to.

It would seem pretty unlikely that she'd have a murmur at such a young age but I'd have it checked.

I see from the health clinic schedule at cavalierhealth.org that there's a heart clinic in Dixon in just over two weeks, on the 4-5th of August! So that;s very close to you. And on the 31st in Grass Valley -- either of those should suit you. These are not cavalier clubs but the contacts are listed -- normally anyone can bring a dog but you need to contact them in advance. An auscultation should be enough I'd think, but at Grass Valley they are also doing echo doppler tests. Ask your vet what is recommended. It would be worth having an ausculation done and these are good prices -- $40-50 for an auscultation. It's nice they are so soon as then you can get the test done and not worry for a long period in advance.

http://cavalierhealth.org/health_clinics.htm#Table 2

PS That's great that everything else went well!

Great that everything went well and she's put on some weight. Definitely check out the clinics. You can't beat the price. I do agree, though, that she seems to be young to have a murmur. Shelby had a slight murmur at 2 that now is no longer there.

Glad everything went well for Fiona.

Like others have said, have a cardiologist take a listen. If you get her into one of the shows that Karlin mentioned, that's great; the price is right and you have a cardiologist doing the listening. It's nice that there are a couple coming up soon. Even if she has a low grade murmer, I wouldn't worry too much about it; probably just a harmless puppy murmer.

Another of my stories: We had a 1 year old puppy into the emergency vet a few years back because she partially swallowed a stick and we couldn't get it out. Well the emergency vet informed us that she had a grade 5 murmer! So we immediately made an appointment with Dr. Tobias at the U of Mn. He listened to her and said NO MURMER AT ALL! His comment was: what was that vet listening to? I can hear a grade 5 from across the room! Moral of the story: Don't listen to vets for hearts, only cardiologists.

I have just one vet whose judgement I trust on murmurs -- and I'd still use what she hears as a rough estimate of what might be there.

Before he retired, my dad was a respiratory specialist and I had an interesting conversation with him once, following a radio programme I heard, on the skills of using a stethoscope. A GP might hear something they think should be checked as a person breathes in and out, but a specialist will likely be able to diagnose any of a range of things quite precisely. It is their exact skill set to know what to listen for and what it means.

heart

One of my dogs have a murmor, but it does not mean anything! The murmur is lokated after the heart, the vet could hear that, and she could see it on the scanner.

Thanks for your advice everyone! Karlin, I will definitely check out that clinic in Dixon, that is a great idea. I knew there was a calendar of those dates somewhere, I just couldnt remember it was on the Cavalier Health site!