Lynne wrote:
mdsu wrote:
As some of you may know, I just adopted two cats from my local humane
society last week. They had their first appointment with my vet this
morning. She detected a heart murmur in the male, Charlie. My vet
recommended that I follow up with the animal cardiologist to the tune of
$500! My vet said the heart murmur could be nothing (I have a heart
murmur that's caused me no problems). On the other hand, it could be
something more involved.

My last cat, Al, died at the end of August. He had diabetes, asthma, and
hyperthyroidism. I spent thousands of dollars on his health care. But he
was fine up until he reached the age of 11 or so. Given my experience
with Al, I am more than a little reluctant to start incurring large
medical bills with a 1 year old cat I got a week ago.

It seems to me that the humane society's vet is incompetent. All he or
she had to do was listen to Charlie's chest to hear the murmur. If my
vet heard it, then their vet should have been able to hear it as well.
And to be honest, I would not have adopted Charlie had I known he had a
medical issue, at least not unless the humane society had certified that
the murmur was not serious. But they didn't do that.

I'm more than a little angry about this situation and have let the
humane society know about it. If their vet is not incompetent, then I'm
led to the conclusion that they purposely withheld information from me
about Charlie's medical condition.

Rich

I'm sorry to hear that the vet missed your kitty's murmur. Murmur's
are funny things, though, and can come and go under various
circumstances. For example, fever can cause insignificant murmurs.
Was your kitty's temperature elevated at the time the murmur was
detected? If so, resolve whatever illness is causing the fever and
have your vet listen again when he is afebrile. The murmur may not be
there anymore.

Even if this is not fever induced, as you know, some murmurs are
inconsequential. In simple terms, a murmur is the sound of blood flow
collisions. Charlie could have a small hole somewhere in his heart,
causing venous and arterial flow to collide, which is heard as a
murmur. Many holes in the heart do not cause problems, but some do.
If Charlie is young, the hole could self-resolve. On the other hand,
it could get worse as he ages. He could also live a long, full life
with no change to his problem and no impact on his quality of life. In
my opinion, if Charlie is not displaying any cardiac symptoms other
than the murmur, I wouldn't worry or have the echocardiogram done.
Symptoms to look for are failure to thrive (grow, develop) if he is
young, poor appetite, low energy, and/or difficulty breathing. Sudden
weight gain could indicate congestive heart failure, which can often be
treated successfully with diuretics. Check his lips if they are light
in color and see if they have a blue tinge. This would indicate his
Oxygen saturation is low. Minor cyanosis is not always a problem and
he may do fine even with lower than average sats. If he is not having
any symptoms now, he may never. But it's a crap shoot.

Focus on Charlie's behavior and overall condition and not so much on
the murmur before you get too worked up. I know that is easier said
than done... Good luck to you and Charlie!


Lynne,

Thanks very much for the information. I canceled the appointment with
the cardiologist. I spoke again with my vet and she did say that it
wasn't imperative that Charlie see the cardiologist. His energy level is
off the charts and his appetite is excellent. Charlie was panting and
open mouth breathing after play last week, but that's probably because
he came home with an upper respiratory infection. (Charlie was sneezing
a lot too.) But all symptoms have cleared.

For the time being I'm going to assume that Charlie's murmur is not a
big deal. I'll keep an eye on him, and take him to see the cardiologist
if and when I notice any problems.

And fyi, I heard from the humane society and gave it to them a little
bit. The woman said to just bring him back. But Charlie is not a piece
of trash. I'm not going to return him to the shelter and what would be
almost certain death. I'm just more than a little annoyed that their vet
can't take 15 seconds to listen to the chest of an animal. I know they
have to deal with a lot of animals, but what I propose doesn't take that
much additional time. The woman with whom I spoke added that many
shelters don't have vets. That's beside the point because this shelter
does have one.

Again, thanks very much for the help.

Best,
Rich