Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Wylie has a heart murmer, and dental is today

Wylies in having her dental done now, her gums were very bad and may need teeth pulled. I feel so bad I waited so long, The vet found a heart murmur. Wasn't there from her last exam. Vet said could be infection from gums the cause, age, many other things, So I know many dogs here have heart murmers. How do you treat them? We didnt go over that yet so I want to be prepared to discuss. Laurie

Laurie CA

Hi Laurie, So sorry to hear about Wylie. I hope this helps, but our little Millie is 11 years old. We adopted her just under two years ago. She had awful teeth, rotting, loose with significant gum recession and some bone destruction. We immediately had the teeth pulled (5 of them) and her remaining teeth thoroughly cleaned. About a year later in the check up where she was vaccinated (the probable cause of her IMHA), the vet discovered a heart murmur. Their initial thought was the bacteria and infection from the oral decay had potentially caused this. When we had to rush Millie to the Teaching Hospital emergency during her IMHA crisis, they did a number of tests, one of them was on her heart (ultrasound or x-ray??). It was discovered that she had congestive heart disease, and the vets here also agreed that the cause could be the oral decay. She is now on 1.25mg Vetmedin every morning and night. It's an expensive drug (on top of everything else), but 9 months on and her heart is coping well with no worsening. Please don't beat yourself up over this. IMHA complicates everything, and you can't blame yourself for causing this. Our vet has said that dogs can live a long life with a heart murmur. Good luck and please let me know how you go. Samantha.

Samantha Geelong Australia

Samantha, thank you for the info. Wylie came thru great and no teeth needed pulling, she just had very bad peridontal disease. Her heart murmer is about a grade 2 so in that range no meds for now. Sounds like Millie is okay, its nice to hear of other seniors with teh same problems Laurie

Laurie CA

Great news Laurie! Sounds like her mouth was nowhere near as bad as Millie's, that's a relief! Samantha.

Samantha Geelong Australia

Laurie: Glad to hear Wylie came through with flying colors! Rita, Mike and Sheba

Rita IA

Phew! Way to go Wylie! melissa and tiggs

melissa slc

yea, Wylie. Now she has some nice clean choppers! I'm sure she pull through this with flying colors. Not to worry. Take care.

Mardi Northern Calif

Laurie, Glad to hear Wylie did so well. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

Laurie, I am so glad it all went well for Wylie and it was not as bad as you feared with those rotten teeth! Best wishes, Brigitte & Kahlu

Brigitte BC Canada

PS: I have had a heart murmur for the last 25 years, am 56 years old and doing just fine thank you!!!

Brigitte BC Canada

This thread was discussed between 06/10/2009 and 08/10/2009

Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) forum index

This thread is from the Vetnet archive. The live Vetnet forum is active now.