I have a puppy born with a grade two heart murmur. She was small at birth and was and is half the size of her siblings. She is 12 weeks old and very active and full of life.

The Vet thinks she'll live a good life and wants me to take her to a cardiologist next week to be sure. I told my Vet about a couple that wanted her and he warned me that he was sued for giving a young pet away with all of her shots that had ringworm that he hadn't diagnosed. He thought I should do a full disclosure in a contract to pet home this puppy or keep her.

I have had three Vet visits and some x-rays and have about $500.00 spent on this sweetie plus the Cardiologist is another $350.00. I'm thinking I should go to the cardiologist to make sure of her condition before giving her away or maybe even keeping her. My worry is that I have the money to take care of this dog but will someone else?

Am I being too protective? There are old posts on this and some say the puppies grow out of it. True?

Is this TVD and should I be looking at the parents?

You won't know if it is TVD until she is examined by a cardiologist, there are several other possible heart conditions.

If she is half-sized, it could be a very serious defect, or she could have other congenital abnormalities (liver, kidneys...). At six months, my TVD dog was about an inch and a half shorter than her sister.

If the murmur is innocent, she will probably grow out of it, but an innocent murmur would not affect her growth. A TVD-caused murmur is not innocent. The cardiologist will be able to tell you if it is a harmless puppy murmur, or TVD, or something else.

You absolutely should tell the prospective owner about the murmur and put it into a contract. You should even tell them the prognosis, what extra care or vet work may be needed, and make sure they understand. Please don't send this puppy to any home without the cardiologist's diagnosis.

You need more information. At this point it could be anything from no problem to a major issue. The pup may have only a few months, or have a completely normal life.

If it is TVD, yes, you should have the parents and siblings screened for it.

I would love to hear an update on this pup after the cardiologist checks her. So often posters leave us hanging as to the final diagnosis of doggy health issues.

Your cardiologist will tell you if it's TVD or not. There are many types of congenital heart problems that could cause a murmur that aren't TVD too. I think if you fully disclose everything to a potential family, and they are fine with it, that's a good thing. And write up a good contract that you both sign

I take her to the Cardiologist next week and will keep you posted.

The people that want to take her in know she has a murmur and that she went to the Vet for another check up. I am giving her away to these people but my Vet said to still make a contract. They have a friend that's a Vet and do take their dog in for regular visits.

At first I thought her size and spitting up her supplement milk was a liver shunt but he couldn't find anything. The Vet didn't tell me about the murmur until our second visit. He thought maybe her heart was just beating fast on the first visit. She had a small infection in the esophagus that was treated with injections and was put on ground meat baby food to replace the milk at a young age.

She is 19 pounds and looks like an eight week old puppy but had a very pronounced stop and short nose.

I had a puppy with a heart murmur. It was discovered on her first check up at 8 weeks of age. My Vet said she thought it was what they call an "innocent murmur". I told the perspective puppy parents about it and told them I was going to take her to a cardiologist. The cardiologist agreed with my Vet, his diagnose was a "innocent murmur" which the pup should out grow. The cardiologist wrote his report. I discussed it with the puppy parents, and it's in a contract if the dog is diagnosed with something life threatening or will need on going care for this incident the puppy buyers money will be refunded. The family love the puppy and were willing to take on the responsibility of caring for the puppy. The puppies name is Jennie, she is four months old and I'm waiting to hear from the owners on her six month visit to the Vet.
Both Sire and Dame were echo cleared, no history of heart problems.

I've produced at least 4 known grade one and grade 2 murmurs over the past 10 years. All resolved on their own by 20 weeks old. If you have the $$, bring her to a cardiologist now, otherwise keep her until murmur is gone and then place her. If she can eat and run without becoming short of breath, it's most likely just a puppy growth issue and will resolve on its own. One vet recently told me all pups have flow murmurs but current equipment is not strong enough to hear most of them.

I bought a JRT puppy that was half the size of her littermates, she too had a heart murmur later and was diagnosed with a Reversed Patent Ductus Arteriosis, however your comment about her regurgitating and the esophageal infection could be a Persistant Right Aortic Arch defect.
However I wouldn't even hazard a guess until she is seen by the cardiologist. We just went through this with a Pit Bull we rescued, she has a grade 5/6 murmur, it turned out she has severe pulmonary stenosis.

Once you know exactly what your puppy has or doesn't -hopefully that is the case, then a contract with full disclosure and terms would be your safest bet. you may decide not to risk it and keep her.
I will tell you I wish Briar's RPDA hadn't reversed, had it been a regular PDA it could have been fixed for about $3K and never needed anything after that, it was very expensive to treat her with medications to suppress her bone marrow, frequent blood testing (weekly at times) as well as phlebotomies and trips to the cardiologist for U/S, blood pressure medications,etc. All told I spent nearly $20K in her almost 12 years.
The breeder of my JRT told me to put her down. I told her where she could go...

Just because a puppy with a heart murmur can run and play without getting out of breath doesn't mean it will resolve. It could be TVD. It is definitely worth seeing a cardiologist and having an echo done. Of course I do hope it will resolve and that no matter the diagnosis the pup will have a long, happy life!

Indeed. I know a 2 yr old dog with a serious case of TVD that has lots energy and goes upland hunting, he could also go into a fatal arrythmia at any moment and was almost lost under anesthesia before it was discovered.

Even Carrie (my TVD dog), who is severe, did not get out of breath when she was a 3 month old puppy. They compensate, until they can't.

I don't mean to be all doom and gloom. The pup may not have TVD at all.

They can compensate very well. Ginger runs as fast as a greyhound and can play along with the Labs without looking winded, to look at her playing you would never know there is a seriously damaged heart inside her chest. So damaged that the cardiologist said she doesn't see this level until the dog is around 6 years, Ginger is only 10 months old. We do limit the length of time she plays so that she doesn't tire herself.

Agree, however here our policy is if they aren't compromised, wait to see cardiologist until the 20 week old mark. If it's still there at 20 weeks, it's more likely to be a serious issue. All of our murmurs have resolved by 16 weeks. The vast majority of puppy murmurs are simple murmurs due to increased blood volume. All pups are thought to have flow murmurs at some point of their growth, but the murmurs can be auscultated easier in the smallest pups probably due to less fat on the chest area, hence puppy murmurs are reported more often in the smallest of the litter.

Sorry, I don't mean to be doom and gloom either...both puppies I know (from completely unrelated litters) that had heart murmurs discovered at 8 weeks old were diagnosed with TVD. Sire and dam from both litters had echo clearances. Both were the smallest in their respective litters. Both were extremely active. Unfortunately, one had to be euthanized because her TVD was severe and she was suffering. The other puppy was bred by someone else and was placed in a pet home prior to the diagnosis. When the murmur was found, the breeder payed for the cardiologist and an echo confirmed TVD. The breeder offered to pay for medical care related to the TVD. The puppy’s case was described as somewhere between moderate and severe. The breeder also offered to replace the puppy. The family had already fallen in love with her and decided to keep her. They try to let her be a dog while at the same time limiting activities that over excite her. She’s almost 3 years old.
Based on what I have experienced personally, I would not wait to do an echo. If her heart looks good then she can go to her new home. If she does have TVD, then all of the other puppies in the litter need to be checked by a cardiologist too. In my litter, we did echos on the 8 littermates and found one more case of TVD. The cardiologist was not able to hear his murmur with a regular stethoscope. His case was described as moderate and I kept him. The other breeder cleared her litter by auscultation done by the cardiologist. There were only three puppies in that litter and no other cases of TVD were found.
In the last year or so, someone posted that TVD is not a death sentence. My response would be that it is not necessarily a death sentence – but that depends on how severe it is. I hope there is nothing wrong with your puppy and I will be praying that the cardiologist gives you good news.

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. This puppy is my first murmur and I don't have the in depth knowledge that all of you have.
I will take her this week to the cardiologist to see what he says. I do hope it resolves at 20 weeks but I need to know something. She may have to stay here.
This forum is so nice with so many experienced people to help. Thank you again and I will let you all know what her test shows.

It is not uncommon for a pup at 7 or 8 weeks old to have a grade 1 murmur due to the heart not being fully developed yet. For a grade 1 or even 2 murmur, I would not be in a hurry to get that pup to a cadiologist until it is older and the heart had a chance to mature. That said, I don't know what age by which a low grade murmur should resolve itself? Mine all have by the time the pup finished vaccinations. Is 20 weeks the time people use???

A low grade murmur that does not resolve itself could be TVD or something else. That should be checked by a cardiologist. But, it is my understanding that low level TVD would not affect a pet puppies quality of life in any way. There are also other conditions that inexpensive medication is necessary that when given will make it so the pup will live a normal life. Again, these are things you would want a cardiologist to diagnose.

At what age would you expect a low grade, self-resolving heart murmur to be gone?

I've never asked a cardiologist by what age an innocent murmur would/should be gone (great question). I was just thinking even adults can have an innocent murmur, which, to clarify for people who may read the thread and not know, is one created merely by noisy, but normal, blood flow rather than a malformation. Because of this pup's smaller size and earlier issues, wait and see may be a bad idea, as a few problems can be fixed before a dog's condition worsens. Certain kinds of holes and PRAA can be surgically fixed. So, I'm glad this pup will get checked out sooner.

We did a full Cardiac color doppler and exam and the puppy was clear, no murmur. I was shocked!

Thank you for all of your support!

That is wonderful news!!!! I know you must be so relieved!!!

I wish it was better news for Ginger, she will need a Balloon Valvoplasty very soon, but we are relieved that she doesn't have a more severe condition on top of it.

I'm so sorry about your girl and hope she is well soon.

Glad to hear your puppy is fine! In the meantime, Tiffany, we'll keep Ginger in our prayers.

Great news!

level 1-2 usually right themselves….

How is ginger doing? My 5 month old lab just got the TVD diagnosis and I am distraught. It's hard to picture my sweet girl being sick since she plays so well and doesn't have any symptoms right now. I am hesitant to start her on any meds right now but don't want to kick myself down the road. Am hoping to hear others stories and advice.