yes thor has a 2-3 heart murmur. he is 2 1/2 yrs old now and has had no problems. I make sure to keep him hydrated in the oklahoma HEAT (omg brutal) and don't let him burn in the summer. i walk him when nights are cool and he'll drink a whole bottle of aquafina on the walk.
he will pant for a longer period of time if he over does it. so far no collapses, etc. when he pants really hard like if someone forgets and lets him get overheated, i'll soak a bath towel in cold water and put it on his chest and under his arms, so he can cool down quickly. sometimes i'll blow a fan on him with the towel. his first summer was actually harder on him than last summer.
this year as it starts to get warmer, he's doing better and cools down on his own quickly. we'll see when the brutal heat starts.
i found out about thor's murmur the day after we got him when i had him vet checked. it was too late - we were already in love with him and knew we could give him a good home. financially, i don't know if that will always be the case, but for now whatever he needs we take care of it. i think i'd have to sell a kidney if need be to keep him around as long as we can
i did take him for testing at OSU vet hospital in stillwater, OK when he was 6 mos old. they did doppler studies and found turbulence in both valves of his heart. they don't have any board certified vet cardiologists in Oklahoma, so they were at a loss as to the cause. They recommended we take him to a Kansas Vet hospital as that is the closest state to us with board cert cardios.
we decided to get on a regime of healthy foods, monitored exercise, and keeping his life stress free. all the testing in the world wouldn't FIX him, so we try to give him the best life possible. I raw feed, home cook, etc.
thor is not on any medication and his current vet doesn't seem concerned about the murmur. Thor recently had to have general anesthesia for a tumor (benign) removal and his heart was the only thing that scared me to death with the anesthesia. He came through with flying colors.
as long as your vet knows his condition and takes that extra care for surgeries, like bloodwork, ultrasound, etc if he thinks it's warranted, there is no reason for him to not live a healthy long life.
boxers lives are short enough as it is, and none of us have guarantees that they will live a long life. personally i want to see boxers bred to live at least until 20 yrs old!! that's not going to happen.
would i take another boxer with a heart murmur, especially a rescue or no fee rehome? ABSOLUTELY. i shed my tears at OSU when he had the heart testing. I was literally scared to death and couldn't even carry on a conversation i was crying so hard. i had to get over the fear and love up my boy every single day and ENJOY him.
you'll have to search your heart and see if you can deal with it. thor being our first boxer made it SO difficult. i'd take another in his condition in a heartbeat if it needed a good home. more so than a healthy one, because we are here 24/7 (retired/disabled) so we have the time and love to give them a good life.
hope this helps
