my 6 month old female rottee has a heart murur of 4

[lgslgs]

Hi paiton -

I'm so sorry to hear your latest news about Miss Huggs.

What sort of pills did they put her on, and did they give you any idea of what to expect her overall health and activity to be like as she grows?

I really hope your little rottie girl is able to give you a number of good, happy years. And that breeder should certainly have refunded every penny. It's just not right to place a special needs puppy into a home that has been given the expectation that they will be getting a healthy puppy.

Lynda

[paiton]

Originally Posted by snowman031

Keep your head up, my 2 year male old has severe SAS and his heart murmur is off the scale and rated at a 5. If he is laying on the floor next to your feet (not touching them) and can feeling his murmur and you can hear it when he is being a lap dog. He's made is through 3 surgeries, 2 dental and 1 neuter.

We were told to expect a short life span and he would not make it to 1 year. His heart has not slowed him down at all, he runs everyday and plays all the time.

Give a her chance, maybe skip is risk spaying and let her live the best life she can.

did your puppy have to go on heart pills in order to have the surgeries? Please let me know. thank you.

[frontierrots]

since SAS is rated on a scale of 6, your pups has the worst possible murmur. I am sorry. What does her dopplar say her velocity was? (if you don't know the vet can tell you)

I pray you will submit your pups pedigree, blood sample and cardiologist results to Dr meurs in washington for her study.
http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/vet...e-forward.html

And I would NOT spay your girl. No surgery at all. That means 150% vigilence during heat cycles for you

[rottcrazed]

It's been a while - anything new with your girl?

[paiton]

good day rottcrazed
yes. only good things so far. my girlee is doing fine. i did have her spayed by a good vet. i never gave her any heart medications at all. i read that if there are no symptoms, heart medications do not do any good. the vet that did the ultrasound recommended meds and told me she will not make it through the spay etc.
well, i took her to a very good vet who told me that they do spays on dogs with heart murmurs all the time. he was a bit hesitant, though, and i told him that my girl is tough and she loves her life and wants to live. he said that she is in awesome shape, well taken care of and her overall health, great except for the heart problem. she went through the spay with not a problem from anaesetic, etc. she was spayed and is doing very well so far. she is all healed up,and she is growing like a weed. i just loves her, and hopefully she will live a longer, happy, productive life as a sweet rott should.
as well, the breeder is great. it took along time to hear from the breeder but it is all straight. i will be given another registered puppy, vet certified and checked. they said that the rest of the pups in the litter are fine and do not have the heart problem of sas. just an isolated case. so i am very relieved, puppy is out doing happy puppy things with the other rottees i have, and another pup will be joining my family of rotts. believe me if i could have all the rots in the world, i would. i really love and believe in the breed and have had them all my life.
the murmur is between 5 and 6 but everyone's ears under a stethoscope hear differently. of course the ultrasound does show a heart problem. i will give her the best life possible, and i do have pet insurance that has taken care of 80% of the bills. thank you so much for asking. i hope you and your babies are all in great health and happiness.

[JoJo]

Glad to hear that your pup made it thru surgery and doing well. I just for the life of me wonder why you would even consider and want to take a chance AGAIN with this "breeder"? Don't you think it might be time to find someone else that breeds for health with all the "proper" health clearances? One that WILL get back to you ASAP? Oh well, each to their own.....

[paiton]

actually, she was the only puppy from that litter that has the problem. the breeder will have the new pup vet checked and certified. at least the breeder acknowledges there is a problem and is willing to compensate for that problem.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by paiton

actually, she was the only puppy from that litter that has the problem. the breeder will have the new pup vet checked and certified. at least the breeder acknowledges there is a problem and is willing to compensate for that problem.

The breeder needs to have her breeding stock cardiologist cleared and certified before she does another thing. That your puppy was the only one in the litter afflicted is meaningless in the grand scheme of things - do you believe that SAS is a dark fairy that drops down out of the sky and only bestows SAS on a chosen few, or do you understand that it's GENETIC and all the puppies carry the gene whether it has expressed itself or not. This puts future generations at RISK.

If this breeder hasn't learned the value of health CERTIFICATIONS from this, then she shouldn't be breeding at all. And the dogs that produced THIS litter should be spayed/neutered and never bred again. Why would you be willing to accept more potential for heartbreak from her and why promote via acceptance dooming other puppies to the fate your puppy must now try to live with?

This is serious stuff. Breeders need their feet held to the fire if they can't/won't/don't insure the least possible risk for the puppies they produce. I don't care how "nice" they may be, I don't care how "smooth" they may "handle" me.......if they can't clear their breeding dogs, then they have NO business producing puppies.

[paiton]

i totally agree with you, however, i am not getting a refund, so the next best thing is a replacement with health guarantee. they could have just ignored the issue altogether, and the evidence. there are alot of people that are buying so called purebred dogs (rottees)with no pedigree and they never know what problems existed within the lines those dogs came from either. of course those people would not be guaranteed their dog would be replaced if it had a health issue, i am sure of that. this is the first time i have ever had any health issue with any of my rottees and i have had this breed all my life. all my dogs have been registered and this is the first one that i have come across with a serious health issue through genetics or being an isolated case. the vets told me that it can be an isolated case in the litter, or it can be through genetics.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by paiton

...they could have just ignored the issue altogether, and the evidence.

Unless this breeder has taken steps to NOT breed this pair again AND taken steps to have ALL breeding dogs health CERTIFIED, then excuse me, but she IS ignoring the issue.

The rest of your post is just a number of excuses on why this is "okay".

[paiton]

it's not okay, and i would not accept a puppy from the same bloodlines on either side.

[lgslgs]

Originally Posted by paiton

i totally agree with you, however, i am not getting a refund, so the next best thing is a replacement with health guarantee.

Hi Paiton. Glad to hear that Miss Huggs is doing well.


I've got to let you know, in the kindest way I can, that I don't with a replacement being the next best thing. Maybe it is...but please be real sure first.

Before you even consider a replacement, check out the breeding dogs that your breeder is using - even the ones that aren't sire and dam to Miss Huggs. Look them up in the OFA data base and check ALL of their health clearances. If you need help with knowing how to do that, just ask and I can step you through exactly what you need to do.

If your breeder doesn't have thorough OFA clearances on her breeding dogs, a "vet clearance" could mean anything and you've got a good chance of more heartbreak and uncertainty about puppy health in the future.

You know we've talked about heart murmur pups before. Not sure if you read it in the Rainbow Bridge section, but out little Luther died at 4:15 am this past Wednesday morning.

You know that my husband and I adopted two special needs heart murmur puppies knowingly. That is such a different situation than yours where you had a right to expect that your puppy is fully healthy.

I'm very afraid that no matter how good your breeder's intentions are, and how well her personal vet checks out a pup - without going through the formal screenings the odds of you have two bitter surprises in a row are just way too high to be worth risking.

Your breeder should have refunded your money, not offered you another chance to maybe/maybe not have a healthy pup in the future. And even if she means so very well, without the clearances that's just what she's doing.


It's one thing to hold and pet and hug goodbye a puppy who died that you knew from the start was likely to be a "short timer" in this world. But please, don't let the offer of a free replacement puppy lure you into adopting a pup if the parents don't have the proper OFA clearances.

I can tell from your posts that you love Miss Huggs and that you love rottweilers. Do what you need to do to protect yourself from heartache. Please require that dogs that come into your home come from breeders who getting those OFA clearances done and on file with OFA Orthopedic Foundation for Animals


I'd much rather see posts from you in the future in the gallery or in the other happy sections of the forum. Vet Corner and rainbow Bridge sections are very important, but I'd sure rather that neither of us needed to spend most of our time there. :(


Give Miss Huggs a big old hug from us.

Lynda

[fostermom]

I have a geriatric girl with a murmur...mitral valve deterioration...a very different thing from what your pup has...but I found a website that discussed in depth heart issues/treatment options/and when treatment provided benefit and when it didn't/which meds provided the maximum benefit...course now I can't find it (but printed up the article so hopefully I can retrieve the web address and will list it latter). Anyway, in trying to locate it, I found this article on AS which you might find helpful..it actually sounds more hopeful than what I would have expected.."in about 10% of those affected, the defect gets progressively worse"...and "In the majority of cases, development of the defect does not usually progress beyond puppyhood i.e. the grading of the heart murmur would be unchanged from the age of 1 to 2 years throughout the rest of the dog's life."

Here is the link:
Canine Health - Aortic Stenosis (AS)

Also, my girl is now on ace inhibitors...Walmart and Sam's club have generic meds for $4, so if you decide to put her on meds, check there!

[Anton]

Originally Posted by paiton

as well, the breeder is great. it took along time to hear from the breeder but it is all straight. i will be given another registered puppy, vet certified and checked. they said that the rest of the pups in the litter are fine and do not have the heart problem of sas. just an isolated case.

I'm glad to hear your puppy is doing well. But I have a question.

Was she actually diagnosed with SAS ?? Or does she just have a grade 5-6 heart murmur?? There IS a difference.

[rottcrazed]

I have to say I am very glad that she is doing well, however, given the information that I have given you about this 'breeder' I have no idea why you would accept another dog of her breeding.

She has tightly linebred her dogs, you are going to go back to those lines one way or another - but I do wish you the best of luck.

Kristi