One dog with heart murmur with arthritis in knee and hip :(

[leesanlucie]

Hi All
Wanted to ask a few questions. Apologies if in the wrong area.
Right I took my girls for vaccinations this morning.
Lucie is 7 (turned 7 last week). She has been a bit stiff on back legs. And her luxating patella is crunching a bit but she is pain free. So we got metacam to try and take the edge of the inflammation and see if the stiffness eases. The vet also mentioned about glucosamine? Said to go to health food shop and ask. So does anyone know where i could get some and what exactly i am looking for??? I give kronch salmon oil in her food daily.

So second little lady is Sasha who is 5.5yrs old. Been told she has a grade 2 heart murmur. To watch out for breathlessness and coughing....and bring her back if i notice her lagging on walks etc too.
So was wondering is there any sort of oil/health food stuff i can give her?
She seems fine in herself. She also gets salmon oil in her JWB food daily. Im now totally paranoid about her. Think I will feel happier buying a stethoscope and learning to check her myself! lol.

Otherwise they keep ok. Just have the usual wee illnesses....upset tummy, one is deaf also.
Any help greatly appreciated!

Leesa, lucie and Sasha.

[Kate H]

Hi Leesa

It is highly unlikely that Sasha is going to show any symptoms of heart problems with a grade 2 murmur. They don't usually appear until grade 5. My Aled was diagnosed with a grade 3 murmur 3 years ago and so far it hasn't got any worse and he has absolutely no symptoms. However, vets are notoriousluy inaccurate at diagnosing heart murmurs - simply because they don't have the right sort of specialist stethascope. So to set your mind at rest, it would be worth taking her to a cardiologist for a check up and possibly a more accurate diagnosis. But if she really is just a grade 2, continue with the salmon oil and keep her fit and slim, and she should carry on as normal.

My Oliver takes glucosamine for his osteo-arthritis. He has one tablet daily of combined glucosamine and condroitin and I get mine online from Simply Supplements. It's part of their pet section and they do a buy one get one free system which makes the price very reasonable.

Kate, Oliver and Aled