[ SHOWGSD-L ] Heart murmurs and protecting pups from Parvo

  • From: Katie Halfen <kthalfen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: gsd list <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 30 May 2010 14:03:36 -0400

Heart Murmurs:

Having your puppies heart checked is always a good idea, especially if you are 
thinking of keeping one of the pups or selling it as a breeding animal.

Heart murmurs can be either an innocent murmur that may be present for life, 
but doesn't signify any actual heart defect, it is just caused by differences 
in flow in the chambers of the heart caused when the valves close.  Innocent 
murmurs can also go away as the puppy ages and the heart changes size or shape. 
 Dogs with an innocent heart murmur can still have their heart OFA certified-it 
just means they have to undergo an echocardiogram to determine that there is no 
underlying disease.  They have to be 12 months old or older to get cardiac 
certified, but an echo can be done as early as 8 weeks of age.  However, most 
of the cardiologists I have worked with perfer the pups to be between 10-12 
weeks of age.  My recommendation to breeders is to have the vet check between 
7-8 weeks-determine which if any pups have heart murmurs-hang on to any that do 
and if murmur is still present at 12 weeks of age do an echo on the pup to see 
if it has a congential heart defect causing the murmur like pulmonic stenosis 
or aortic stenosis.  Then decide if you can find a home willing to do the 
surgery for the dog or at least give it a loving home for its shortened life 
span.  Sometimes these dogs live to be 6-7 years of age, but most die before 2 
years.  

 

If the pup has a PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) that murmur is very distinct 
and if the vet suspects this type of murmur, the pups should have echos at 8 
weeks of age.  It is easy to diagnose at any age as it is a hole in the heart 
that failed to close at birth and allows blood to flow backwards (regurgitate) 
through the heart in the wrong direction-mixing oxygenated blood with 
unoxygenated blood.  These pups need surgery or they usually don't survive more 
than a year of age.  

 

 

How to prevent parvo virus....

 

The number one protection for your pups is to have a good transfer of maternal 
antibiodies from their mother through the colostrum (the milk they drink in the 
first 24 hours of life is full of antibodies).  How do you get good antibiodies 
in your female dog's colostrum?  By either ensuring she has a high antibody 
titer before you breed her or by boostering her Parvo vaccine before she is 
bred.  I personally don't titer my breeding stock and opt to vaccinate anydog 
actively showing or breeding once a year.  This is also because I am a high 
risk to my own animals of transmitting diseases from all the sick dogs at work 
to my own animals.  My own protocol is to booster the female one month before 
she is bred-it takes about 2-3 weeks for her body to mount a good immune 
response from the vaccine, and then when the puppies are born they should get 
high levels of antibodies in the colostrum.  

 

The reason this is so important is that maternal antibodies for parvo are the 
longest lasting antibodies in the dog and usually last until 10-12 weeks of 
age, but can persist for up to 16 weeks of age in the pup.  So, the initial 
vaccines you do at 6 and 9 weeks of age, aren't protecting your pups from 
parvo-they are mostly for parainfluenza and hepatitis, whose antibodies are 
already fading.  The maternal antibodies in the puppies can actually counteract 
the vaccine.   This is why the ideal vaccine protocol for puppies is to do DHPP 
at 6 weeks and again at 9 weeks and then do DHLPP at 12 weeks and 15-16 weeks.  

 

If your puppies get parvo before 10 weeks of age its probably because they were 
never well protected from their mother and you should look at your vaccine 
protocol for your breeding females.

Katie Halfen DVM
Casamoko Shepherds
www.casamoko.com
We have Puppies!!



                                          
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