Should we take my dog to a cardiologist?

1

Yes, it's important to take him to the cardiologist. A cardiologist is a veterinarian who specializes in the heart.

Cavaliers are known for their heart problems.

A grade 4 murmur is serious business and he needs to be monitored and possibly put on medication. Only the cardiologist will know what is best for him, he will work with your veterinarian.

You need to get a sonogram done to know what is going on with your dogs heart. How do you know if he has mitral valve or an enlarged heart? These things can be treated with medication.

I suggest you look around, I'm sure there's more than one specialist in your area. Your dog should have a sonogram done every 6 months.

Hmm. It's been a few years, but my visit with a canine cardiologist was around $300, including the ultrasound. The benefit of having that done was to see exactly how enlarged my dog's heart was. It was also a good visual for me to see exactly what was going on (it was a color US and I could see the blood leaking from the valve) they let me watch it. My dog's heart was much more enlarged than my vet suspected.

I would be hesitant to pay $750 myself, and agree with Helen that you can just have your regular vet monitor your dog. Mine was on meds for years and did well up until the end. Hope your dog does as well. Best wishes.

2

Virtually all Cavs have serious heart problems by the age of 10, half of them by the age of 5, so you're one of the lucky ones. More info: http://www.cavalierhealth.org/mitral_valve_disease...

I wouldn't bother with the cardiologist. Just have your dog checked regularly by your vet to monitor his heart, to decide when (or if) to put him on medication.

Referring you on to a specialist is protocol for many vets when they detect a heart murmur. They are trying to determine the cause, if possible, and the overall health of the heart in relation to the murmur. Many times, however, a murmur does not adversely affect the heart - it is something the vet hears in the stethoscope and is defined as turbulent blood flow. It does not mean that the dog has heart disease.

BUT, heart murmurs cannot be “cured” or corrected. If the murmurs are due to heart disease, the condition may be manageable with medication, exercise and dietary change. The outlook for dogs with heart murmurs can only be determined once the underlying cause of the murmur is identified.

Unfortunately, IF it is heart disease, the prognosis for most dogs is not good. Cardiomyopathy (one of the most common diseases of the heart in dogs), will usually claim a dog within a year of two. Management of the disease, will keep him comfortable for the time they have left. Again, your dog may or may not be suffering from heart disease. And that is what I believe your vet is trying to establish by referring you to a specialist.

then enjoy your dog for the rest of his life