Our beagle's annual checkup revealed a heart murmur - sharing what we learned

Took our 7 year old beagle Pickles in for her annual checkup last week expecting it to be totally routine. The vet listened to her heart and got quiet for a second and my stomach just dropped. Turns out Pickles has a grade 2 heart murmur.

I completely panicked on the spot but our vet was really good about explaining everything. Apparently a grade 2 is pretty mild, and in beagles it can stay stable for years. She sent us home with info about symptoms to watch for - exercise intolerance, coughing at night, changes in breathing rate.

We scheduled a cardiology consult for next month. Sharing this in case anyone else has been through something similar. The wait between finding out and actually talking to a cardiologist is rough. If you have experience with heart murmurs in dogs please drop a comment, would really appreciate it.