Heart Murmurs and William Shakespeare

Hello,

We took William Shakespeare into the vet because he was breathing heavily and had little drive to nurse… He has been diagnosed with a heart murmur. He has a hole in his heart which makes the oxygenated blood mix with the unoxygenated blood. He has to breathe faster to keep enough oxygen in his blood. As he gets larger, he needs more oxygen and so he has to breathe faster. This means that he is burning more calories, which often results in death. This is a random developmental defect that is not considered genetic.

The hole in his heart may close, so right now we’re just trying to feed him as much as possible. For some dogs the hole might not close till they’re a year old, or they might live to be six months and then die. For some dogs the hole may never close. Our vet says we will know more about his long term prognosis if he makes it to eight weeks old. So, we’re just trying to keep him alive. We’re feeding him as often as he will eat, trying to give him enough calories that he can heal.

Because of the heart murmur he will not be offered for sale unless he heals completely.

Update,

We put William to sleep at 4.5 weeks old because he was having to breathe so hard that he could no longer eat.