Feline Heart Murmur

The condition known as feline heart murmur can be the result of a serious heart condition, but that is not always the case. If your cat has been diagnosed with a heart murmur, you'll need to get confirmation of the cause.

Once the murmur, and it's cause, are confirmed, you'll be able to better decide on treatment options. Veterinarians typically will declare the intensity of a murmur using a scale of 1 through 6, with 6 being the worst murmur.

Cats can have heart murmurs for many reasons, and it is important to get to the root cause. You should know that cats can have murmurs as kittens that eventually go away, or have little impact on the overall health of the cat.

You should also know that some cats can develop murmurs as adults, with no other apparent medical problem.

Most veterinarians agree, however, that the most common cause of feline heart murmur is a serious heart condition that may take one of several forms. There may also be underlying conditions related to thyroid and/or high blood pressure issues.

Note that your cat may have any or all of these conditions and not have any apparent symptoms at all. In some cases, the first indication that there is a problem is a heart attack resulting in death.

A heart murmur in a cat and the underlying cause is best diagnosed by a specialist. Typically, either a veterinary cardiologist, and or an internal medicine specialist should be consulted. The best diagnostic tool is an ultrasound, used to determine what, if any, structural damage exists in the heart.

Much of the time, pursuing a diagnosis of feline heart murmur will result in a finding of cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is, simply put, a disease of the heart muscle. Various forms of cardiomyopathy exist, and there are various associated and underlying conditions. Again, an ultrasound of the heart muscle performed by an expert is the best way to confirm this condition.

This was the case when my oldest cat, Priscilla, was diagnosed with feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She had been to the vet every year and never showed a murmur. She fell off the couch one day, but the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. A short time after that, he found a murmur. An echo cardiogram confirmed that she did in fact have cardiomyopathy.

More Information:

Heart Murmurs in Cats - Info on heart murmurs in cats from Vetinfo4cats.com.

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