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Monty-good news

Barbara Nixon

Barbara Nixon

Well-known member
I took Monty, today, for his 7 day check, after his dental. We saw one of the vet partners, called Will, and after the check, I happened to mention being worried, last week, because of Monty's increased murmur.

Will got out his stethosope and listened. he said it wasn't a 5, more pushing 4-ish and that the heart beat and pulse were strong and steady. He said that this was far more important than the size of murmur; a dog with a high grade murmur, whose body copes well, being in a far better position than some with lesser murmurs.

This is certainly good news for us and I hope it gives encouragement to others who find themselves in a similar situation.

I feel that this vet is very knowledgable (he knows about sm too ) and am determined that , except in emergency, our appointments will be on Thursdays; the days he is at our branch.
 
That's really good news and encouraging to others.

Do they clean the teeth without putting him under at the vets? I'm sure I don't get to all of Dylan's teeth even though it's done almost every day.
 
Monty had a full anaesthetic, but Izzy was given heavy sedation, from the old vet, because of his heart. However, the new vets say that, in fact, anaesthesia is safer as it's instantly reversable (only good for dentals and not internals, obviously).

You only resort to veterinary dentals when the plaque is really heavy, gums get infected or teethare bad.

Pauline, try some fish skins from Fish4dogs. I had the special offer of 3.8kg for £25.50 , last month , and the dogs love them. Their coats are shinier and I think they must, as claimed, clean the teeth as they are very crunchy and the teeth must pass down between the layers, thus getting scoured. They appear to have regular offers, as the June one is 3.8Kg of jerky fingers, suitable for larger dogs. This is a lot to buy for one dog, but , if next month offers a smaller version, perhaps you could get someone to share an order. You can buy smaller packs in shops, but they are relatively very expensive.
 
That's great news Barbara -

my vet has always said not to go by the grade of the murmur, but by the symptoms. I've known of dogs graded a 6 to be living a virtually normal life, but have personal experience of a dog graded a 3, who was coughing, very intolerant of exercise and generally not well...
 
Very glad to hear your good news Barbara.

Yes, a strong heart with a murmur is better than a weak heart with the same murmur.

The dental care is just so important with heart patients....canine and human.

Our Charley always had an anaesthetic to remove plaque, my girls are going to be brushed daily, even if they don't like it. :)
 
Excellent news -- I think what your vet says sounds like good perspective. To many more years for Monty! :)
 
Great news Barbara!! I remember my old lad Chad having a hugely enlarged heart yet the muscle itself was still very strong, there is much to be said for that!!
 
That is great news Barbara, and isnt it wonderful when you find a vet that really sounds like he is on top of it. Some of the modern anaesthatics are wonderful for their rapid reversals. Unless our dogs are likely to be in pain after an op we always ask for the rapid reversal ones. They are also much safer if something starts to go wrong when they are under the anaesthetic as they can pull them out of it much faster.
 
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