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Heart murmur

As part of a standard veterinary examination, your veterinarian will listen carefully to your dog’s chest with a stethoscope, this is known as auscultation. When the heart pumps blood, there are certain sounds associated with this function. Your veterinarian will listen for any abnormal sounds or rhythms that could indicate a potential problem.

One of the unusual sounds that your veterinarian might hear is a heart murmur. A murmur is not a disease in and of itself; it is a sound that is caused by turbulent blood flow within the heart. Blood typically flows in one direction but when it is disrupted due to certain cardiac abnormalities, it may become more chaotic or disorganized and flow in the wrong direction (referred to as turbulent).

Some murmurs are detected when puppies are young and tend to resolve by the time a dog is four to six months old. These murmurs, referred to as “innocent” murmurs, have no negative impact on a dog’s health and are more common in the large breed dogs.

Your veterinarian will let you know what to do if your puppy presents with a heart murmur. They may recommend a recheck after a certain period of time, or may refer you to a veterinary cardiologist for additional testing. This is common with higher grade murmurs, a murmur that is still present after the puppy is six months old, or if the murmur has progressed since a previous examination.

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