My cat has a heart murmur... What can you tell me about that from your experience?
2007-12-08 12:08:09 · 4 answers · asked by girl.with.a.question 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
Well, did they do blood work & an ultrasound to find out more information? I know that when a human has a heart murmur, they'll do blood work to see if it's lack of iron......they'll do an echocardiogram to get a better idea of the heart's situation. All this is to help figure out the cause of the murmur, possible treatments, and the 'level' (ranging from 'innocent' to what might actually cause problems).
2007-12-08 12:14:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A low grade heart murmur really is not a big deal. But as time goes on it usually progesses and gets worse. Virtually, a heart murmur is when a valve in the heart is not closing all the way and is allowing blood to back flow (usually blood should only go one direction in the heart, but when a valve is leaking it allows blood to go backwards into the previous chamber) When the murmur is severe, sometimes the blood will clot in the heart and excitement or fear will cause this clot to be pushed from the heart into the blood vessels. In cats, it is common that this clot will get stuck in the bifurcation of the vessels near the pelvis. This causes a condition called "Saddle Thrombis" or Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It causes paralysis of the rear legs and severe pain, and it is unfortunatley highly fatal. Dont get me wrong, im not saying this will occur to your kitty, but it is seen in cats with high grade heart murmurs. So, if your cat has a severe murmur, heart medication and blood thinners are always a good idea, as well as bi-annual exams to assess the heart.
2007-12-08 20:24:47 · answer #2 · answered by doodlebugmeem 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it is a kitten or a new cat with a fairly low grade murmur, it could be nutritional. If the cat hasn't been getting the proper diet, they can develop heart murmurs. Taurine (an amino acid) is absolutely essential to cats. A lack of it in their diet can cause a heart murmur. Go to the pet store and pick up a supplement like felovite that says it has taurine in it. It may help.
I have fostered several kittens that had heart murmurs and they ususally go away with time and proper nutrition. I have one cat that still has a heart murmur but it is a fairly low grade and hasn't seemed to affect her.
2007-12-08 20:35:04 · answer #3 · answered by kritten 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are a lot of different types of murmurs, in humans there are over 200 types, cats have a wide variety also.
Some murmurs go away, some don't. Some are life threatening. It completely depends on what KIND of murmur your cat has. Most of them you don't need to worry about.
2007-12-08 20:20:28 · answer #4 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋