This subject has been covered before and I want to say thanks to those who replied as they have at least been a little reassuring.

We bought a Weimaraner pup last week and he gorgeous full of beans and part of the family already. Took him to the vet this morning for his first jab and the vet said he had a heart murmour and that while some disappear there could be cardiac surgery involved and that would be expensive. He looked so serious and said I was within my rights to return the dog and that it would not be suitable for breeding. He then said did I still want to go ahead with the vaccination and microchip !! He proposed the senior vet take a look during the next visit two weeks time but we are so anxious for him we have made a separate appointment with the senior partner tomorrow.

We are keeping the pup and I'm sure others reading this would feel the same way.

Can anyone suggest questions we should ask tomorrow and does anyone know if the Weimaraner is more or less susceptible ? The books say nothing.

Thanks

Certainly you must tell your breeder. It is quite common for a vet to think a pup has a heart murmour and at that age sometimes it does seem that they have but when you go back next time it has gone. Insist on a second opinion. Perhaps go to another vet and don't tell him why. Just ask for a check over if they same things comes up maybe you will have your answer.

I suggest that you talk to Mrs Holmes, the president of the weimaraner club of gb, she is very clued up on health problems within the weimaraner breed. if you e mail me direct I will let you have her number.

Lynn...... kidmal.weimaraners@ntlworld.com

Alot of puppies of all different breeds can suffer with minor flow murmers
that DO disappear once they reach 16 weeks of age.
Even if they persist there may be no cause for alarm if they are quiet.
If you are unduly worried there are vets around the UK that do specialise
in Cardiology.
In my own breed Boxers there is a heart-testing scheme for all Boxers
and they put controls in place that ideally no dogs should be bred from
unless they were heart-tested and graded a zero or one. (stethascope examination) We are lucky as most of the breed clubs arrange to have a cardiologist present at their open/champ shows and the fee for testing is £7.50 per dog. Todate the scheme has been running over 10 years and
over 5000 dogs (Boxers) have now been tested. The incidence of serious heart murmurs in Boxers is decreasing, so the control scheme does work.

Wishing you all the best with your puppy and hopefully it will just turn
out to be an innocent puppy flow murmur that disappears

Kindest Regards
Kirstine

That is pretty much exactly what our vet said when we took Minx for her first jabs, very much doom and gloom, worst case scenario type stuff - she had a grade 6 'machinery' murmur, and a very high heart rate (280bpm), which are apparently characteristic of a PDA. We were told, surgery, or death within twelve months. However, two weeks later, when we took her for her second set, the murmur had completely disappeared. I don't know what your insurance situation is, but had Minx needed surgery, we would not have been covered because she was born with the condition, so the questions we were ready to ask related to how we could reduce or delay the onset of the symptoms of heart failure if we couldn't afford the surgery. Our vet was very surprised that the condition had righted itself so late, but it does happen, and there are a couple of recent(ish) threads in here that show that the picture isn't necessarily all gloomy! I would be fairly hopeful if your pup is full of beans, happy to run about, not coughing, and gaining weight as he should be - this was the major 'good point' our vet found for Minx, that her weight gain was normal, apparently dogs with potentially serious heart conditions tend to be smaller than 'usual' anyway, and it's difficult to get them to gain weight. We were very anxious after our first trip, and fully expected Minx to drop dead at any minute, but it's turned out OK so far (I won't relax until she is given the all clear at her 6 month check up though). Does your breeder know if any of your pups littermates have similar problems? Our vet told us that if one pup was affected, it was quite likely that some of the littermates would be too. Let us know how you get on tomorrow!