Heart Murmur And Teeth Cleaning Question

[macoduck]

Has anyone had experience with a grey with a heart murmur who had to get anesthesia for a teeth cleaning?

Our group has a "return" who is 10. The former owner only had her 1 year and was told recently she had a murmur and that the teeth cleaning would cost several thousand dollars because of it.

I don't know how severe the murmur is but she will be getting a through exam by a grey-savvy vet soon.

[Burpdog]

Could be the vet was not familar with greyhound hearts. SieSie had one that came and went.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the group's vet has to say.

[Guest SusanP]

Our Dr. Doug has a heart murmur due to aortic stenosis, and when he gets a dental, the vet simply makes sure he is on antibiotics ahead of time and continues following the procedure. There is not extra cost, unless you count the cost of the antibiotic, and keeping gum disease at bay is critical for a dog with his heart problem.

Edited July 15, 2007 by SusanP

[macoduck]

She sees the vet Thursday.

This little girl sure has some bad luck. I picked her up the first time she was dumped: flea-covered, worm-infested, black gooky ears, rotting teeth.

She's a good little girl her but her adopter of the past year has severely neglected her and she is/was again flea-covered with rotting teeth.

There is a potential adopter for her once she deals with her medical issues.

[iluvgreys]

My little senior girl (15), Phoenix just had a dental and minor surgery. She also has a heart murmur. My grey savvy vet brought her through these procedures just fine, keeping an IV going, and sending us home with a one-week precription for an antibiotic. Cost was $313 for the dental + ABS

[Guest wilsontrixie]

an antibiotic before the dental for a few days and then it should be continued after....and it should not be 1000.00....

[Jackandgrey]

There are certainly grades of murmer and some are very benign and shouldn't interfere with her dental. So we'll hope for that!

[MarcR]

My Nadia, who is eight, has a murmur due to cardiomyopathy (for which she take daily meds). Her last dental was at the end of March. My vet put her on antibiotics for five days before and after the cleaning. Total cost was about $450.

[romansperson]

Hm. Sounds to me like either the former owner was, ah, exaggerating, or the estimate included taking care of other problems like the fleas and such.

 

Roman had a heart murmur due to mitral valve incompetence and the only thing different about his dental was the type of medication used for induction. Very little, if any, price difference.

 

With this girl it is entirely possible that the bad teeth and the murmur are related to each other. Heart murmurs can even go away once the teeth are treated and properly cared for.

[Guest crazy4greys]

My girl Autumn, who has a slight heart murmur, just had xrays, a dental and a surgery for an abscesst anal gland. She is 11.5. She is fine and all that wasn't even close to $1,000!

 

If teeth are going to be pulled, start clavamox 7 days ahead of time, it will reduce the possibilty of any bleeding from extractions.

[MarcR]

Hmmm... If her teeth are really in bad shape, I wonder if the "several thousand dollar" price included extractions.

[RobinM]

Cowpantslady (Iris) has a dog with a heart murmur, I THINK. You can ask her. She may or may not get back to you right away as one of her babies has just been diagnosed with CA and is mending from a severe broken leg. Sh'e got a lot going on.

[MP_the4pack]

My Pearl has severe heart disease (the murmur is a grade 4 out of 5). She has cronic valvular disease. She also has severe hypertension.

 

I have a cardiologist for her, and a dentist and an internist and radiologist and any other specialist under the sun. Cost money? You bet.

 

Is she doing well? YOU BET!! She has outlived her 'bad heart' prognosis by 2 yrs now.

 

She had an abscessed tooth that the doctors decided really did need to come out. Pearl was a VERY HIGH risk anesthesia patient. She's my heart and soul hound, so I took her to the largest private clinic in the country (Red Bank, NJ). They had the cardiologist in with the dentist as they put her under.

 

She did great. Her tooth is out, other teeth look good, and now her BP is dropping. The tooth was causing the hypertension which was also causing heart problems.

 

So........find out what is causing the murmur. If it is just a grade one or two, she's probably ok without a second opnion. But if her murmur is great, then a second opinion with a cardiologist should be done. At least, just a second opinion. It has so been worth it for me. No one can tell that Pearl is sick except her doctor.

 

 

[Guest acb74]

Ryan had a mild heart murmur when we went under to have his teeth cleaned. No big deal. The vet hasn't detected one since then. It may have been caused by the drugs.

 

I would go to another vet. Thousands of dollars doesn't sound right to me.

[Jiffer]

With my vets office, Orion's dental and extractions was just over $400. If he had a heart murmur, according to the pre-work papers, they would do an echocardiogram and some other minor things during the procedure to monitor his heart, which would have added about $100 to the price (these are in Canadian funds, too).

[sweetdogs]

Might be adding an ultrasound on top of the echo - I have a senior kitty with a heart murmur & that's what he gets before he goes under. He's never had a problem with his dentals or other surgical procedures. Of course, he really does have a murmur, maybe this girl doesn't.

 

As for cost, as we've discussed here many times, it can vary widely depending on the vet & location. Several thousand is excessive, but where I am, a grand wouldn't be out of the question (including the u/s & echo).

 

for her. Hope she gets her forever home this time.