My puppy has an enlarged heart. Will its littermates also have one?

Yes they can because it is all about genetics. So even though they don't have the outward physical properties, the pet can still carry the genetic markers for that defect and pass it along to its offspring.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your potential new puppy. Young puppies can occasionally have what is known as an innocent murmur. This is a heart murmur they will outgrow usually by 6 months of age and is not associated with any ongoing disease. Other murmurs are associated with congenital heart disease and go on to cause the puppy significant disease. I recommend having the puppy evaluated by a board certified veterinary cardiologist. A procedure known as an echocardiogram will likely be needed to assess for any structural heart disease. This will give you the longterm prognosis for the puppy. I hope this information helps!

An enlarged heart could mean that your dog is developing heart disease but it could also just be normal for your dog. Your vet could submit a blood test called a proBNP which helps detect heart disease. You could also have a cardiologist perform an ultrasound of her heart to evaluate the function of her hear and measure the size.

The most common cause for an enlarged heart in a smaller breed dog is disease or deterioration of the heart valves. The best test to have done is an Echocardiogram. This is an ultrasound of the heart. It allows visualization of the valves and their function, allows measurement of the thickness of the heart muscles and would allow the doctor to see any other abnormal structures. This is best done by an ultrasound specialist or a board certified pet cardiologist in order to get the most accurate and valuable information. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

They could have it or not. Liver shunt can have a congenital origin. I would strongly recommend to check all of them at your local vets. Abdominal ultrasound and specific blood tests are very sensitive way to diagnose this disease.

Cancer would be extremely unlikely in this age group. Swollen lymph nodes are common in puppies as their immune system is still developing and reacting to many new stimuli, continued monitoring for 3-4weeks is advised. Heart murmurs are also quite common in growing pups and most are completely innocent and require monitoring to see if they disappear

Hello. I am so sorry for your loss. It is very hard to say if this was preventable, but quite likely, it was not. This degree of heart disease in such a young puppy would have come from a congenital birth defect, a fairly common occurrence in this breed of dog. If a murmur was picked up early enough, an electrocardiogram would have been able to pinpoint the problem, & the next step would have been open heart surgery. This was absolutely not negligence by your veterinarian. Birth defects do happen in animals, just like in people. Some are manageable, others, like this are sadly not, unless you go to extraordinary measures. I know you are sad about this loss. Please accept my sincere condolences & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.