Duke: heart murmur and exercise

Hi, as some of you know, we recently adopted an older staffie. Duke is 8 or 9 years old, and we've been told he has a grade 1 heart murmur. He was also rather over weight when we got him, but has lost around 2,5kg in the last 2 weeks, and now weighs 20.5kg. He has more energy now too, which is great. We took him for his 1st proper walk on Saturday evening (had a cold and was on antibiotics before) and he enjoyed it so much, he ended up galloping across the park with my son! I was a bit worried, because of this heart murmur, and didn't want him to over-exert himself, so I stopped them.

So my question is: how much exercise should this old gentleman be getting? We're keen to help him get nice and fit again, his little legs aren't as muscular as they perhaps should be. And although it seems that his previous family fed him really well, he wasn't exercised much. I don't want to make this heart murmur any worse.

so glad he is fitting in well, you seem to be doing a fab job. i do not know how much exercise but someone soon will be along who will be able to help

my last dog I had Kimba was a corgi / cross samoyd. When he was in to be desexed the vet discovered he had a heart murmur ( I got him from the Sandy Creek Dog Home in South Australia , where he had been picked up as a stray )He lived till 12 when he got cancer of the pancreas and I had him put to sleep ( far out.. one of the worse times of my life!! ) But through out his life you would never have known he had a heart murmur. I used to mostly take him for long walks and that suited him, and the vet always said he was a healthy boy. I think keeping the weight of is one of the best things you can do.

just remembered something else.. the vet had told me to watch out for if Kimba started coughing or if he got really lethargic after exercising. That can be the symptoms of a more serious type of heart murmur.

My cat Bowie has a heart murmur. He's just like a regular cat when it comes to play! The vet that diagnosed him didn't say we needed to restrict his exercise, just to watch him and make sure nothing changes in his health/behaviour.

Thanks everyone, feeling more at ease now. Had a lovely walk this evening, but I'm finding it so hard to keep him at heel! I'm guessing that's just the staffie nature. Thank goodness for the harness!

He sounds a really nice character! I bet he's enjoying the extra exercise he's getting. I wouldn't worry about the heart murmur - most grade 1 murmurs never amount to anything worse. As Vanessa says, if he starts to cough after exercise or becomes lethargic & generally 'off' then let the vet take another look at him.

Otherwise, just enjoy him & let him enjoy becoming fit again! Just don't do too much too soon - he'll let you know when he needs to stop & catch his breath!

Ive got a 12 year old girl whos really fit for her age she goes out for walks her own choice and if she doesnt feel like going she will let me know.
I make sure if shes doing some running I put her back on the lead on and off to rest inbetween and she has shorter walks but more frequent never more than 20 mins a time

gem wrote:Ive got a 12 year old girl whos really fit for her age she goes out for walks her own choice and if she doesnt feel like going she will let me know.
I make sure if shes doing some running I put her back on the lead on and off to rest inbetween and she has shorter walks but more frequent never more than 20 mins a time

Gem have you posted any pics of your 12 year old girl?? Would love to see her.

Hi all.
New member x just found out my 12 year old staffy has a serious heart murmur, some signs of failure and liver issues.
Big shock and worried how much it will all cost - do any thing for her just worried how

vanessa wrote:

gem wrote:Ive got a 12 year old girl whos really fit for her age she goes out for walks her own choice and if she doesnt feel like going she will let me know.
I make sure if shes doing some running I put her back on the lead on and off to rest inbetween and she has shorter walks but more frequent never more than 20 mins a time

Gem have you posted any pics of your 12 year old girl?? Would love to see her.

I will update my avitar she hates her photo taken

Cheryl and Sascha wrote:Hi all.
New member x just found out my 12 year old staffy has a serious heart murmur, some signs of failure and liver issues.
Big shock and worried how much it will all cost - do any thing for her just worried how

I think at her age there will not be much they can do only medication treasure every moment

Hi Cheryl, I'm so sorry to hear your staffie's not well... give her lots of love, and keep her warm and comfy. She'll really appreciate that and I'm sure it'll make her feel better to know how much you care about her.

I'd have a long discussion with your vets about what to do/not do. In the meantime this might be a helpful read.

http://www.denes.co.uk/advice/fact_sheets/liver_disease.php

Hi, many thanks for all your kind replies. You wouldn't have known there was anything wrong with her, still acts like a puppy she is just hating the strict diet of chicken and rice.

Cheryl and Sascha wrote:Hi all.
New member x just found out my 12 year old staffy has a serious heart murmur, some signs of failure and liver issues.
Big shock and worried how much it will all cost - do any thing for her just worried how

Cheryl and Sascha wrote:Hi, many thanks for all your kind replies. You wouldn't have known there was anything wrong with her, still acts like a puppy she is just hating the strict diet of chicken and rice.

So sorry to hear your 12yr old is unwell
Now that it's got cooler over here, my 14yr old is having a few issues with her arthritis. She has cataracts and is getting quite deaf and at times I'm starting to wonder if she is developing a kind of dog dementia. I know it's possible, Ive searched about it and talked with the vet both here and in Adelaide where we used to live and I'm looking into some info the vet gave me.
When we head out for a walk we have the short one that Kita does (usually with hubby as he's so tired ), while I take Izzy the long way and we meet up in the park. Other than that I make sure she is warm, safe & dry, tell her how much I love her and ensure that there is nothing at all that can hurt her and treasure every moment I get to still enjoy her in my life.

Forgot to "multi-quote the original post
Ern, I'm sure by now you have worked out how much exercise Duke can cope with etc and adjusted things accordingly. Humans have heart murmurs too (generally due to a slight difference in the timing the valves in the heart close). I have one and now that I'm getting on, maybe I should modify my behaviour accordingly

Well the lovely thing is, he's gotten fitter as he's lost weight! He was a bit stiff after a particularly energetic evening yesterday, I've posted about that elsewhere, but other than that, he's going from strength to strength

We let him set his own pace, and make sure he doesn't overdo it when he gets too excited. Thanks for all the input, it's really appreciated!

He really is gorgeous!