One type of innocent heart murmur is often found in young growing kittens particularly kittens that are growing rapidly. This can indicate an irregularity with blood flow between the hearts valves which could affect oxygen and nutrients levels as blood is pumped around the body.

What To Do If Your Cat Has A Heart Murmur

Further testing is necessary.

Class 3 heart murmur in cats. My cat loki has a heart murmur that is grade 3. Radioactive-iodine therapy which is highly effective but only available at specially licensed facilities. We grade murmurs on a scale of 0 to 6 so a 4 is significant.

A heart murmur means that in addition to the normal lub-dub heart sounds a vet can also hear extra sounds when listening with a stethoscope. Hearing a murmur during a physical exam is no reason to panic. The murmurs auscultatory features can be characterized by timing within the cardiac cycle anatomic location radiation area intensity loudness frequency pitch and shape of vibration pattern which is most easily achieved by recording murmurs.

The murmur isnt the problem but it indicates there could be an issue with your cats ticker. Hyperthyroidism can either cause an enlarged heart leading to a murmur or can result from heart disease. My cat has got a heart murmur grade 3 will my cat still lead a normal long healthy life the vets says to give him half an asprin twice weekly but shoud i be more worried they said i could go to cardio specialist but how costly could that be.

Heart murmurs arent necessarily pathological but they arent normal either. A heart murmur is nearly always diagnosed by a veterinarian listening to your cats heart with a stethoscope often during a routine health check. While the term grade 3 heart murmur might strike fear in your heart in reference to Kitty dont panic.

Murmurs are auditory vibrations caused by high-velocity and turbulent blood flow through the heart and vessels. Often heart murmurs in young animals including humans are benign and outgrown. How are heart murmurs assessed.

Occasionally if the murmur is very loud a diagnosis can be made simply by feeling a buzz when a hand is placed on the cats chest this is known as a pre-cordial thrill. Murmurs may be noticed when a cat is stressed and the heart rate has increased but be gone a few minutes later when a cat has calmed down. Grading Scale for Murmurs.

What Causes Heart Murmurs in Cats. Theres nothing mysterious about a heart murmur. The symptoms associated with murmurs depend on a variety of characteristics including their grade configuration and location.

When a cat has. In conclusion most heart murmurs in apparently healthy cats are detected in the left or right parasternal region and are caused by dynamic left and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Many dogs and cats with heart murmurs will live long.

But sometimes it is a sign of a serious heart condition. A heart murmur is caused by turbulent blood flow within the heart or the large vessels exiting from the heart. The sound is created from a disturbance in the blood flow that produces a swooshing sound between the normal lub-dub heart sounds.

Answered in 7. Hes had it for about a year now. There are a few possible reasons for a cat to have a murmur.

Sometimes it can actually be present because of dental disease. As well as making the diagnosis your vet will also note details about the murmur as well as many other aspects of your cats heart. With structural heart disease there is some sort of abnormal structure or defect that is disturbing the.

A feline heart murmur is usually detected during the course of a routine exam when the vet listens to your cats heart using a stethoscope. While some animals can have murmurs that are present their whole life this is probably not the case with a Grade 4 murmur. It is hard to tell in a young kitten.

A heart murmur can indicate a disease of the heart muscle called cardiomyopathy which is the most commonly acquired heart disease in cats says Bliss. I usually do get concerned when I hear a murmur in an older cat. However a heart murmur is a reason to discuss heart disease and what it may mean for your pet.

A heart murmur may be heard by your vet when he or she listens to your cats heart. Grade Three Heart Murmur in Cats. The presence or absence of a murmur is not a good predictor of heart disease in cats.

The murmur may first appear at 6-8 weeks of age and a kitten with an innocent heart murmur. I dont want to pay for an echo because hes health and happy and i wont make him undergo surgery or pills for the rest of his life but i was wondering if there is anything i can do to prevent it from. Medications to manage the hormonal imbalance.

Because most cats 88 with a heart murmur had heart disease in this study if a heart murmur is detected in an apparently healthy cat echocardiography is recommended to determine the cause of the heart murmur and the presence of heart. I had a foster kitten last year who had a level 3 heart murmur and she totally outgrew it and is fine now. This results in an abnormal noise which can be heard by your vet when listening with a stethoscope.

To further complicate matters heart murmurs in cats can come and go being heard on one day but not the next. Studies suggest that 30 to 50 percent of cats with a murmur have structural heart disease 1 she says. Heart murmurs are very common in cats.

He is 6 12 years old with no other issues other than needing to lose a pound or two he weighs about 14lbs. If however the murmur is associated with structural heart disease your cat may display signs of congestive heart failure such as coughing weakness or exercise intolerance. Plasma NT-ProBNP is a useful test for identifying occult HCM and the author recommends this for pre-anesthetic screening in mature and senior cats and cats with murmurs.

A systematic evaluation of murmur characteristics is indicated when a heart murmur is detected in a cat. They are caused by a quantity of blood that is turbulent and that is already in the heart or is exiting through the large cardiac vessels. If your vet determines that your cat has a heart murmur youll want to understand what causes the condition.

An innocent or physiologic heart murmur is a heart murmur that has no impact on the cats health An innocent or physiologic heart murmur is a heart murmur that has no impact on the cats health. If your vet hears a heart murmur when listening to your cats heart it will be like a swishing noise. Its quite possible that your cat is just fine.

Murmurs are extra heart vibrations. Monitor your cat if the vet cant detect any other problems. Arrhythmias are more often associated with underlying heart disease in.

They are graded according to their intensity usually grade one to six but the grade can also change on a daily basis. Surgically removing the thyroid. Ask Your Own Cat Veterinary Question.

It simply means the heart is making unusual sounds that could indicate an abnormality.