Does anyone know of any good resources or from experience can talk to the life expectancy of a dog with moderate TVD?

We were dealt a massive blow when a young dog of ours was diagnosed with moderate TVD the other day. All previous vets missed his murmur. Echo confimed the severity of it.

Not only have we lost a promising young dog out of our program, we are worried about the ramification of this disease on his life. Our beloved animal will stay with us but we are afraid to think that maybe he will pass in the next few years.

The disease is devastating. Mom's already been spayed. Cleared via auscultation only, but hadn't been privy to any problems in her lines. Sire is clear through Color Doppler Echo.

I am hoping I can hear some positive stories of dogs living a decent, long life with the disease.

This is one more example of why doing auscultation alone is simply not enough. I am very sorry you are dealing with this and I dont have an answer to your question. I hope your baby lives a longer happy life then what might be told.

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your boy's diagnosis of moderate TVD.

I've shared my story over and over again about my dear ol' gal Truly. I am always willing to share it again if it will help.

My girl was diagnosed with severe TVD at a little over a year of age after finding out her sire was diagnosed with mild TVD. This was over 13 years ago. As a young dog she showed an intolerance of exercise and would stop running with the other dogs within about 5 minutes. The cardiologist gave her until 8 years of age before she'd succumb to congestive heart failure. I chose not to spay her as I didn't know if she could handle the anesthesia. She lived a moderately restricted life, no forced exercise, not allowing her to become overweight, or anything that would put extra strain on her heart. In her younger years, I fed her pro-plan sensitive skin and stomach formula as it was fish based. I also supplemented with fish oil caps as I was told it was good for her heart. Other than that, she has lived a fairly normal life. She has always been a happy dog and loved showing, so I decided to show her some as a veteran. Her first show I only entered her in one class for one day to see how she handled it. She was fine. She went on to a have a very successful veteran career. At age 11 she developed pyometra. The only option was to spay her. I was afraid this was it for her, but her blood work came back normal and her x-rays showed only mild heart enlargement which could be normal for her age. She was spayed and recovered quickly.

At nearly 14 years of age, she developed a nasal carcinoma. The pathology report gave her only 3-6 months to live. This was in November 2011. Although the tumor in her nose has grown some, it has not metastasized and it is not aggressive in its growth. It does protrude from one nostril, but has no tissue to hold it together and when she sneezes, she actually gets rid of some of the growth. It also does not have much discharge nor does it have blood vessels that rupture and bleed uncontrollably. I am pleased to say she is still going strong today over 6 months past her diagnosis date.

She is slowing down now and having more difficulty getting up, but is still a very happy girl and loves her meals. The only medication she gets is an anti-acid tablet and her Meloxicam.

My Truly, is truly remarquable. She is over 14 1/2 years old and has overcome TVD, Pyo, and cancer. Unfortunately she won't overcome time, but I cherish everyday I have with this very special gal.

Good luck with your boy.

I know of one who was 11 years old last Fall. Don't know if he is still with us, but that's better than some who don't have TVD.

As someone else said, this is proof why ascultation is NOT enough!

Good luck with your boy!

My boy was diagnosed with severe TVD at 8 weeks old. He lived a fairly normal life and died just before his 8 th birthday. We let him run, play and swim with our other dogs.....if he couldn't keep up....he just rested. In his last two years he did have a few fainting episodes. He was seen twice a year at Cornell . We were not able to have him neutered....his heart could not tolerate any anesthesia. It was hard for him when my girls were in heat. If I had to do it all over again....I would have had him neutered at six months when he could have tolerated it.

I hope that your dog has the longevity that ours did. We just lost our boy last year at 13 yrs. He was diagnosed with moderate to severe at 8 months. We let him do anything the other dogs did - retrieving and swimming and playing at will. He never had any medication for his heart at all.

First I want to tell you how sorry I am that you are going through this. About 6 months ago I had a puppy diagnosed with TVD found on his wellness exam before going home, confirmed the next day by echo. So I understand where you are and the pain you are going through. I removed both mother and his Aunt from my breeding program- both cleared by auscultation-Father cleared by echo dobbler. The specialist put my puppy on Enalapril and each month he goes in for a checkup with my regular vet to be monitored and have his dosage adjusted as he grows. I'm participating in the TVD study at Pen State with Meg Sleeper and highly encourage you to do so also, hopefully one day they will come up with a DNA test so we may be able to prevent such "broken hearts."
The first few months was very hard to deal with, I could not look at my little boy without crying...I felt horrible, living with not knowing from one day to the next if he was going to leave us- my first case and hopefully only case in 20 years of breeding. They told me he may not live to be a year- but could live to be 13...they really don’t know since they are still learning about this defect. He did not ask to be born this way, but the fact is he does not know he is ill...he gets tired a little quicker than a puppy his age- but he plays and loves to retrieve. He is such a good boy, so full of love and a little ham to boot. So my advice to you would be to live each day fully with love and laughter, there is going to be some worries and tears- but love him 13 or more years in whatever time you are given together....that is what I am trying to do...hoping he sees more smiles and laughter than my tears. It is not easy- but he is blessing my life so much. As far as I know only my closest friends know about my boy, not that I have anything to hide- just because of how other people can be and that it is not just my breeding program that would be effected...I have ended that line here but it is not my place to effect the breeder who’s line his mother came from. I also want to thank you for giving him a life no matter how long or short it is, and not giving up on him.

Freddie was diagnosed TVD - Gr 5/6 murmur at 5 mo of age. Dr. Jonathan Abbott (now at Virginia Tech) advised his life span on average would be 1-3 yrs. His mother was examined,found to have Gr 2/6 murmur which was only heard when sedated. She was spayed and this was her only litter and the puppies were all in pet homes. I kept Freddie,(did not neuter or breed him) trained him for WC and JH tests which he loved and attained the titles. I showed him, and loved him until last June -- He was 13 yrs and 3 mo old. He was maintained on Foreker 20mg/day from about the age of 8 yrs and really only struggled last spring. We never thought of him as anything other than a loveable gentle soul who had fetched socks and underwear to his kennel. He is missed still-my other male who grew up with him still goes to Freddie's kennel and sits in it-as he is doing right now.
It is difficult to predict how the disease will affect each Labrador and I wish that every day you have with yours is a good day.

Mom was cleared via auscultation by a cardiologist. As she is spayed due to age and not liking what she produced in her few litters, we will not echo her at this point. This boy was the only keeper out of 2 litter, will not be bred and therefore, there are no breeding dogs out of the dam.

He went in for his cardiac clearance, cardiologist heard murmur, we proceeded with echo. 2/6 murmur with moderate TVD being final diagnosis.

No, the vets that have seen him in the past were not cardiologists as he's young and we never suspected anything. But we were doing our due diligence with beginning his clearances as he's of age to start them now.

It's good to know that there are others who have had dogs live normal lives. That was really what I was trying to find out.

Kate you are very right. I am not sad for him. I am sad for me. And when I get over the shock (like the last shock I got and had to alter a favorite dog due to a health problem), I will be able to focus on the fact that this boy will enjoy a very loved and spoiled life with my family. Just like he did before the news.

Kate, that was so nice. In answer to your question how long. The few I have know of close by lived on for years. 10 to 12 and one am not sure might still be going. Just give him a fun life and let him do what he can do. Good luck. And very sorry.

Carrie had moderate valve malformation and severe heart enlargement when diagnosed at four months. The cardiologist did not give us a life expectancy, but her general vet did not think she would make it to a year. She is 3.25 years currently. She has slowed down, but still plays and can go for easy walks(no 3 milers), doesn't cough or collapse. She has done pretty good for longer than we expected and is not even on any medications yet.

I hope you didnt spay the mom just for the TVD problem. You have no clue where the TVD came from. The mom could be clear and the dad could be the carrier, even though he is clear per Echo. There is no dna test so just because a parent is clear thru echo, they can be a carrier and pass it on.

No, I posted more info later in the thread. We had 2 litters out of mom. No keepers, never really liked what she produced with 2 unrelated studs. I wanted a girl to run on and the girls produced were not the type I wanted for my program, so she was spayed (also was turning 6 and prefer not to breed them past that).

A few yrs back one of the families who adopted one of our pups ( pet ) took her girl to her vet a number of times that first year. When this young dog was 1.5 yrs old, her vet told the owner that she definatley heard a significant heart murmur. Owner contacts me very upset and worried sick. I arranged to meet her at the cardilogist office where he did an auscultation first but he didn't hear a murmor. The owner of this young girl wasn't satisfied so I paid for an ultra sound right then and there. The cardiologist said Ollie's heart is perfectly normal.
Heart problems do not run in my lines so I was so relieved that this turned out happy ending.
I'm sorry for your dog's recent TVD diagnosis OP. One of our first pure bred labradors died of a massive heart attack when she was 5 yrs old...in my arms. This was 18 yrs ago and I still hear that shrill scream she let out and the pain in her eyes as I held her until she passed away.
They really do need to come up with a genetic test for TVD. I hope more breeder's whose dogs have been diagnosed with TVD, will participate in the study.

Years ago, the first I had ever heard of TVD was from a dog imported from the UK. Now, the disease seems to be all over the place, and is becoming "just one of those things in the breed". The distain that I hear from those who echo to those who auscultate amuses me to an extent, especially since a dog who has a clear echo can still, from what I understand, produce TVD. Added to this, the dogs who fail their echos mostly just disappear into the void; never to be heard from again. The only ones privy to the info is the one who did the failed echo and their closest friends, while the rest of us clumsily breed unknowingly, bringing in problems we had no knowledge of. I wonder what will become of our beloved breed, with this "Elephant in the room".

This is so true and if any "names" are mentioned you are ostracized. I had a puppy with this at 18 months and spayed the Mom and sent the owners a refund. She is still alive and expected to live quite a while as it's mild TVD. The mother and father had no signs of TVD. I wouldn't know if it was in the bloodlines as you say it's kept quiet and shoved under the rug.

The Cardiologist suggested the both the mother and father be fixed to stop the problem.

I had a dog with TVD over 14 years ago. It was not out of the boy from the UK that most are aware of. It has been suggested that in my case, the issue came from another line in the UK. Of course, alot of our stuff had those lines back then and I had never even heard of TVD until I had it.

I really think that because of our awareness of it, the testing that we are doing, that we just hear more specifically about TVD, as years ago, it might have been referred to as a heart murmur or heart condition. How do we know how many of our fading puppies had TVD or some other problem not diagnosed?

We do need to stay aware of TVD, but I think that we have other issues that are talked about ie, elbows and allergies - like they are not as dire and we remove the affecteds from the breeding program - but we do not remove every dog that produced a bad elbow or an allergy .

I don't think that each dog or bitch that has produced one TVD puppy should be neutered. How could you know which produced it?

"The arguments against auscultation do not apply here. The murmur WAS picked up by a cardiologist. The system worked. I am very comfortable taking the advise of the cardiologist as the whether or not to do an echo."

FWIW, the internal medicine specialist I spoke to regarding TVD (has done clinics for Labradors before) told me 80% of the dogs he diagnosed with TVD DID NOT HAVE A MURMER.

To Robin,

The cardiologist that you are quoting is the same one who diagnosed my Truly with Severe TVD She had a grade 2/3 murmur. I'm just wondering if things may have changed in the last 12-13 years that would have not graded my girl with such a severe grade of TVD. It's obvious that she did not have a shorter life due to her diagnosis.

I had several girls done a few years back and told the cardiologist about Truly. He said because of her longevity that we could safely down grade her to moderate or mild.

Like with the PRA scare, people tend to over react when this disease shows it's ugly head. I have information about a dog in the 80s who was frozen and when unfrozen and used in the modern age, was found to have produced TVD. Whether it came from him or not, I do suspect we've had TVD in our breed for a long time. It's only been in recent times that we've had the technology to diagnose this problem. With everything, vets need to have time to research and check dogs to come to a consensus as to what constitutes normal, what the murmurs and their grades correlate with the disease, etc.

Until we have a test and study that shows exactly how TVD is inherited, the best we can do is to test and not breed dogs that are affected.

My cardiologist diagnosed my girl with grade 2 and called it MILD. Likely no life restrictions at all, would make a fine pet , the dog lives with a human cardiologist .