Weak arterial pulses occur with reduced stroke volume or aortic stenosis. Rarely, individuals may have heart failure in the face of normal heart sounds and cardiac rhythm. The finding of gallop sounds is often very strong evidence of severe myocardial dysfunction The presence of a murmur does not equate with heart failure . In fact, most patients with a heart murmur do not have heart failure. Heart murmurs are abnormal, extra sounds that are of a relatively long duration.
Heart murmurs occur a result of turbulent blood flow.
Anything that muffles the heart sounds can obscure a murmur such as obesity, thoracic effusions, or loud respiratory sounds. Heart murmurs can occur in the absence of disease in the growing young dog. These are referred to as innocent murmurs . They should resolve by 6 months of age. It is my belief that similar innocent heart murmurs may also occur in the adult, particularly of large and giant breed dogs.