Welcome To Ceva
My dog has Mitral Valve Disease…
What do I need to know?
Ceva has shared this information with you as they suspect your dog may have the most common cause of heart murmurs, a heart disease called Mitral Valve Disease or MVD.
The advice in on this website is specific to MVD, it does not apply to other causes of heart disease.
Important Points
What is Mitral Valve Disease?
What happens in Mitral Valve Disease?
The exact reason why changes develop is not fully understood but the changes that occur are well known.
This process is very slow and gradual and some of the changes take place before there are any signs or symptoms to spot in the dog. Often the first clue there’s a problem is the heart murmur.
Important points about Mitral Valve Disease
• A common clue things might be progressing is if the murmur gets louder, therefore your vet will listen to the murmur with a stethoscope each time they see your dog.
• There are well defined stages in the disease that your vet will look for – this is very important as different stages need different actions and/or treatments to slow the progression of the disease.
The MVD Timeline
Slowly over time the left valve of the heart becomes thickened and nodular. The valve should act as a one-way (non-return) valve, but with MVD blood squirts backwards when it should be closed.
This leak of blood backwards stretches and dilates the atrium slowly over time causing the heart to enlarge. The enlarged heart becomes weaker and can’t pump as effectively.
After many years of developing these changes the heart reaches a size where it can’t function normally and the dog develops noticeable symptoms – known as heart failure.
Not all dogs with MVD murmurs progress and worsen. 60% of dogs with murmurs don’t progress to become poorly or develop any symptoms of heart disease.