Pulmonic stenosis is a defect in your dog’s pulmonary artery. The pulmonary artery carries blood from the right ventricle in your dog’s heart through the pulmonic valve and into the lungs.  With pulmonic stenosis, your dog’s heart must work much harder to circulate the blood to the lungs.  In severe cases, this can lead to cardiac failure and death.

The symptoms of pulmonic stenosis are the general symptoms of heart problems such as difficulty breathing, lack of vitality and abdominal swelling.

Pulmonic stenosis can be caused by an obstruction or narrowing of the artery, but, in many cases, it is the result of a defect in the pulmonic valve.

Pulmonic stenosis is an inherited condition in certain breeds such as Mastiffs and Bulldogs although the exact mechanism of inheritance is not fully understood. 

Often, the presence of a heart murmur is an indication that your dog has pulmonic stenosis.  A physical examination including x-rays, an echocardiagram and/or an electrocardiagram will confirm the diagnose and identify the source of the problem.

The treatment of a pulmonic stenosis is based on treating the underlying cause. Milder cases may simply require careful monitoring of your dog’s health with or without the aid of medication. More severe cases may require immediate surgery to remove the obstruction or repair the valve.

Since certain causes of a pulmonic stenosis are inherited, afflicted dogs and dogs with a family history of a pulmonic stenosis should not be bred.

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is a non-profit organization dedicating to reducing the incidence of genetic and orthopedic diseases. The OFA has an open access database you can access online that grades the general cardiac health (by whether or not the dog has a heart murmur) of registered dogs used for breeding. Before acquiring a dog, you should check this database to see if your prospective dog's family has a history of cardiac health. If your prospective dog's family is not listed, you should inquire with the breeder as to why this is so. This is an important safeguard. Click here to visit the OFA website.

No, you cannot contract pulmonic stenosis from your dog.