Importance of 10 Week Cardiac Check

[Sound Bay Newfs]

There seems to be a lot of pups mentioned on this board, going to their new homes at 8 weeks old. The problem is that a pup’s heart is not mature enough to be checked by the cardiologist at 8 weeks old. A pup’s heart needs to be mature enough at 9-10 weeks old to be checked by the cardiologist. Regular vets can only hear basic murmurs and are not trained cardiologists, so diagnosing innocent murmurs from more serious indication of heart disease cannot be done or is unreliable.

From the OFA site…”… virtually all common congenital heart defects are associated with the presence of a cardiac murmur. Consequently, it is recommended that cardiac auscultation be the primary screening method for initial identification of CHD… A common clinical problem is the distinction between innocent murmurs and murmurs arising from CHD.” ….examinations … are most reliable when performed by an experienced individual with advanced training an experience in cardiovascular diagnosis. Examiners who perform echocardiography with Doppler must use appropriate ultrasound equipment, transducers, and techniques. Such individuals should have advanced training in noninvasive cardiac diagnosis and should follow diagnostic standards established by their hospital and by the veterinary scientific community, including standards published by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, specialty of Cardiology (J Vet Internal Med 1993;7:247-252).”

Irresponsible breeders not only do not want to keep their pups the extra 2 weeks, but want to avoid the cost of the cardiac checks. For my last litter of 8, I paid over $1100 for their cardiac checks.
But I do it because it is the responsible thing to do for the pups and the new puppy buyers.

 

[victoria1140]

as a question as its not something we may be familiar with over here,
when I had Jessies gsd cross pups checked I specifically asked for the head vet to check them but havent heard of much use of ultrasounds, etc.

my vet diagnosed one of the pups with pda which was operated successfully on but just wondered what the minimum checks would be for anyone to look out for

 

[Bojie]

STICKY!!! Thanks for posting this Lynn, I think it's very important this is easily accessible.

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

When dogs are listed on the Newf dog database, for instance and it says their hearts are evaluated, is that evaluation based on the pup's 10 week check with a cardiologist or do they have a cardiologist do it at a later age as well? For instance, I understand hips aren't evaluated until age 2?

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

When dogs are listed on the Newf dog database, for instance and it says their hearts are evaluated, is that evaluation based on the pup's 10 week check with a cardiologist or do they have a cardiologist do it at a later age as well? For instance, I understand hips aren't evaluated until age 2?

If you see a dog on OFA that has had a cardiac test and it was done by a cardiologist, it will say "Normal - Cardiologist". But this is the adult heart check at about a year old. The 10 week cardiologist test would not be OFA. The 10 week cardiologist report should be provided by the breeder that they get from the cardiologist at the time the pup is tested.

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

And if the heart check WASN'T done by a Cardiologist, it will say "Normal - Practitioner". That kind of clearance is, IMHO, insufficient.

 

[AngusMcDubhsMom]

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Irresponsible breeders not only do not want to keep their pups the extra 2 weeks, but want to avoid the cost of the cardiac checks. For my last litter of 8, I paid over $1100 for their cardiac checks.
But I do it because it is the responsible thing to do for the pups and the new puppy buyers.

THAT is the long and short of it. That, right there ^

 

[Henrys Mom]

It's sad that breeders don't want to pay for the cardiac checks. $1100 is a small price to pay (if that's for all 8) considering the price of a puppy these days. It is irresponsible breeding not to do cardiac checks at 10 weeks. I am glad this is a sticky because I have seen a lot of puppies going to their homes at 8 weeks as well.

 

[R Taft]

There seems to be a lot of pups mentioned on this board, going to their new homes at 8 weeks old. The problem is that a pup’s heart is not mature enough to be checked by the cardiologist at 8 weeks old. A pup’s heart needs to be mature enough at 9-10 weeks old to be checked by the cardiologist. Regular vets can only hear basic murmurs and are not trained cardiologists, so diagnosing innocent murmurs from more serious indication of heart disease cannot be done or is unreliable.

From the OFA site…”… virtually all common congenital heart defects are associated with the presence of a cardiac murmur. Consequently, it is recommended that cardiac auscultation be the primary screening method for initial identification of CHD… A common clinical problem is the distinction between innocent murmurs and murmurs arising from CHD.” ….examinations … are most reliable when performed by an experienced individual with advanced training an experience in cardiovascular diagnosis. Examiners who perform echocardiography with Doppler must use appropriate ultrasound equipment, transducers, and techniques. Such individuals should have advanced training in noninvasive cardiac diagnosis and should follow diagnostic standards established by their hospital and by the veterinary scientific community, including standards published by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, specialty of Cardiology (J Vet Internal Med 1993;7:247-252).”

Irresponsible breeders not only do not want to keep their pups the extra 2 weeks, but want to avoid the cost of the cardiac checks. For my last litter of 8, I paid over $1100 for their cardiac checks.
But I do it because it is the responsible thing to do for the pups and the new puppy buyers.

"like"..........wish they all did this

 

[Bojie]

Thanks for making this a sticky!

 

[Angela]

Thanks for making this a sticky!

You are welcome.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Bump