Heart murmur

Question

Hi there,

My 8 year old Cavalier King Charles was recently diagnosed with stage 1 heart murmur. The vet assured me it wasn't serious and it's pretty normal for dogs of this breed. Now Trixie has to take a small pill every day. She doesn't seem to be affected by it at all.

I know the breed and the age could have caused this, but I was wondering whether diet could be a factor too? She was eating ProPlan her whole life and it suited her well, but in recent months she would leave about half of her daily portions in the bowl. In an effort to get her to eat more, I started purchasing wet food which is supposedly natural, locally sourced, and grain free. I keep feeding her ProPlan, but I mix a small spoon of the wet food in her daily portion every day. It definitely worked to get her to eat more, and in fact, she's put on a whole kilo!!

But the reason I'm worried about this is that the heart murmur was diagnosed almost simultaneously, when I started feeding her this wet food. I wonder whether the fact that she's put on weight or that the food is grain-free or contains peas might have caused the heart murmur (I've read some articles which suggest this is possible).

I am so worried that I have caused her this lifelong ailment and I would be really thankful if anyone could share their experience with this or give me some feedback/advice.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Have a lovely day!

J_StudentVN_ZoologyBSc · Answer

Hi Juliet!

              Thankyou for your question and concerns. I would like to start by saying you absolutely did not cause your dogs heart murmur as you know this is an incredibly common condition with this breed . By 5 years of age 50% of CKCS will have developed a heart murmur and by the ages of 10 almost all king charles spaniels will have developed a heart murmur.

The most common cause of this murmur is a disease called endocardiosis (it is also called mitral valve disease. It is caused by a degeneration of the mitral valve (the valve between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart), and can also lead to further heart issues so it's great that you caught it at grade 1 and have begun treatment to keep it under control.

With regards to food, now that you are aware of this condition it would be wise to minimise all risk to the problem escalating. As you mentioned Pet foods containing peas, lentils, other legume seeds, or potatoes as main ingredients can be a detriment to your pets heart so avoid these where possible. There are pet foods are tailored to specific conditions  whilst providing balanced diets, such as Royal Canin&reg; Veterinary Diet Canine Cardiac, Rayne Clinical Nutrition&trade; Restrict-CKD&trade;, or Hill's Prescription Diet h/d. so i would speak to your vet about the best option for you dog! 

 

Kind regards!

Joe