We have a 3 year old cat that has a heart murmur and we want to get her spayed. She is in heat right now and is trying to get outside so bad. We took her to the vet a couple years ago to get her fixed and thats when we found out she had a heart murmur and the veterinarian said on a scale from 1 to 6 shes about a 3. We have 4 other cats besides her and they are all fixed and are outdoor cats and we are always letting them in and out and seeing that I have one that cant go out its very hard to keep her in when she is in heat. Anyways the veterinarian said that it would be risky to get her spayed because she might not wake up from anesthesia because of her heart murmur. Does anyone know what the risks are? I know she would be a lot happier if she got spayed, that way I could let her out like the other cats and she wouldn't have to stay inside all the time.
2007-03-12 20:01:36 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
Talk to your vet. Is the heart mumur a "1" or is it a "6" (you can feel it without the use of a stethoscope)? I guess when the vet said she is a "3" that means it is pretty bad but not that bad. But Is the murmur due to cardiomyopathy (then the cat should not undergo anesthesia). I have heard of cats with heart murmurs undergoing (necessary) surgery successfully. The anesthetic used is Isoflurane, reportedly the safest anesthetic gas available for children and pets. In your case, the surgery is elective and that understandably makes your vet very reluctant to put the cat under anesthesia. It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion from another vet.
2007-03-12 22:46:08 · answer #1 · answered by Phoebhart 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The risk is she might die during surgery... When you talk to the vet about it, does he feel confident in doing a spay surgery on a dog with a heart murmur?
The thing is too, if you don't get her spayed and she accidently gets pregnant, having the kittens might be hard enough on her that she might not survive that. Because her heart isn't working properly... it also means that other organs in her body eventually are likely to suffer. Blood flow obviously thru the heart, supplying the organs in the body.
Given that the vet said she was a 3 out of 6 on his scale, If she was my cat, I would have her spayed. At least she wouldn't have to go thru being in heat on top of it all.
2007-03-12 20:11:09 · answer #2 · answered by DP 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
After her heat cycle take her back in and see what the vet says, medicine has improved so much in the last few years. I wish you the best of luuck and pray that your cat is alright and will be safe during the spay.
2007-03-12 23:17:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a tough one. I had a cat who had a heart murmor who was spayed and lived to a happy old age.. but I would want to check with vets to be safe, I am not sure what grade Cleo's murmor was. My cat Tea recently died of kidney failure, and she had a low grade heart murmor near the end that my vet wasn't that concerned about, given her more serious kidney infection concerns. Is your cat on anything to protect her heart? My vet has had tremendous luck giving heart murmor cats CQ10, which you can buy yourself. I would check with my vet first, but my cats have all done well with it.
2007-03-12 20:14:07 · answer #4 · answered by boncarles 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why are you asking that here? All you need to do is talk to your Vet. They will be more then happy to answer all questions and they will tell you if she is in any danger.
2007-03-12 20:57:53 · answer #5 · answered by hatethinkingofnicknames 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋