Heart Murmur?

Hello,

Yesterday I took my 9 year old cat to the vet for her annual checkup
and bloodwork. While there the vet detected a "significant" heart
murmur.

She didn't have this before. Her blood work came back today and they
didn't find anything that could be a cause of the heart murmur, her
thyroid was fine, etc ...

They booked me in to take her for an ultrasound, but it won't be for a
couple of weeks.

I'm really worried about her and I was wondering if anyone here has
any experience, or ideas why this happens, and how serious it might
be?

She's an indoor cat, she's been really healthy her whole life, she's
never had to take a pill or been sick a day. She still seems very
healthy to me, she's playful. The only difference I've noticed in her
is that she's been more affectionate than usual.

Yesterday I took my 9 year old cat to the vet for her annual checkup
and bloodwork. While there the vet detected a "significant" heart
murmur.

Snowy had a heart murmur detected a few years ago (at 12?).
A cardiologist determined that it was not serious. While these
things vary, I wouldn't worry too much (its impossible not to worry
some!) until the ultrasound.

Gary

On Dec 28, 4:06*pm, "Gary Brown" wrote:
Snowy had a heart murmur detected a few years ago (at 12?).
A cardiologist determined that it was not serious. *While these
things vary, I wouldn't worry too much (its impossible not to worry
some!) until the ultrasound.

Gary

I'm glad that it wasn't serious for Snowy. I hope the same for Suzy.
You are right that it's impossible not to worry though! I guess the
bright side is that whatever it is it's been caught early.

Thank you Cindy and Gary. Your responses have definately helped relax
me some.

I had many years of no health problems with my cats, and in the last
year 2 have died, one died exactly one year ago today and it was
unexpected and he was 9 just like Suzie. The other was 18 and he
died of CRF. It's contributing to me fearing the worst.

On Dec 28 2007, 3:52 pm, "
wrote:
Hello,

Yesterday I took my 9 year old cat to the vet for her annual checkup
and bloodwork. While there the vet detected a "significant" heart
murmur.

She didn't have this before. Her blood work came back today and they
didn't find anything that could be a cause of the heart murmur, her
thyroid was fine, etc ...

They booked me in to take her for an ultrasound, but it won't be for a
couple of weeks.

I'm really worried about her and I was wondering if anyone here has
any experience, or ideas why this happens, and how serious it might
be?

She's an indoor cat, she's been really healthy her whole life, she's
never had to take a pill or been sick a day. She still seems very
healthy to me, she's playful. The only difference I've noticed in her
is that she's been more affectionate than usual.

Our vet discovered a faint heart murmur in our cat, also when she was
age 9 (last year). Because the cardiologist was booked up, we had to
wait six weeks for the echocardiogram and yes, it's impossible not to
worry. That day at the vet's waiting for the cardiologist to come and
do the echo was one of the worst days of my life; I was a nervous
wreck. However, as others have mentioned, the most likely cause is
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can be treated. Our cat was found
to have a very mild case, caught very early, and so she takes 1/4
tablet of atenolol twice a day. Her second echo done six months later
did not show any progression.

Some heart murmurs are innocent, meaning the echo might show that your
cat has a healthy heart and there is nothing to worry about. But even
if HCM is diagnosed, don't get upset if you google it and read a lot
of dire information. According to my vet, most of that info is
outdated and in his experience, the majority of cats with HCM
diagnosed early can be treated and live a normal or near normal
lifespan. He also said that HCM is genetic and the course of the
disease depends on how the gene expresses in your cat. In some cats,
it's mild and never really gets any worse.

Our cat has not shown any symptoms of a heart problem, as would be
expected with a mild form. Since your cat is also asymptomatic, try to
take heart in that because asymptomatic cats have the better
prognosis.
-yngver