I have a deposit on a merle pomeranian (7 wks) and the owner just called me to tell me she has a "systolic heart murmur". I was buying this puppy to breed. Is there any chance the murmur could be functional and ok for breeding? I am a little suspicious that the owner may not being completely truthful with me as these exotic poms are very difficult to find and she sold it to me for a very reasonable rate. Afraid she might be trying to get out of the deal because the dog may be worth almost twice what I offered. If I get her vets name, what else would I need to know?
Thanks for your input. XXXX XXXX
As a breeder I would call her vet and verify that the puppy with the problem is indeed the one that was intended for you (based on color and markings and sex). I would not purchase a puppy with a problem like this with any intent on breeding it and I would be dubious about any other pups in the litter also. I'd ask the vet if any of the other pups had any obvious health problems too. I'd also want to know what exams of both parents showed for health issues.
While it could be a congenital defect it might have a hereditary component. My rule of thumb is when in doubt don't plan on the dog as a breeder.
In my experience in breeding dogs it is best to purchase the very best you can to start with if you want to have a healthy line and long term good fortune in breeding. Excusing a serious health flaw to get a color can cost you generations of issues you may wish you didn't have.
Even if it costs you twice as much to get a healthy puppy as a breeder potential dog it will be worth it to ensure you have a reputation of producing healthy pups as well as pretty ones.
From TABLE 3. Cardiac Murmurs Based on Location Within the Cardiac Cycle (Timing) and Character (Modulation) located on this site http://maxshouse.com/heart_murmurs.htm is a list of the problems associated with this type of murmur
Congenital pulmonic stenosia
Congenital aortic stenosis
Innocent murmurs
Mitral regurgitation (insufficiency)
Tricuspid regurgitation. (insufficiency)
Ventricular septal defect
that looks to me like a 1 in 6 chance its not really serious (and a 5 in six it might be) though depending on the frequency of each type of problem those odds might change dramatically.
The time to decide is before you get the puppy and the bloodline and ancestry that goes with it.
Good luck!
Hope this helped!
Edited by NHolmes on April 25 2005 at 4:04 PM
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