Heart Murmur In Cats Uk
The prognosis depends on the cause of the heart murmur.
Heart murmur in cats uk. Describing the murmur as significant isnt really helpful in terms of how you might agree to any treatment. The life expectancy depends on the cause of the murmur. It is a cardiac disorder that is a result of the hearts unstable and turbulent blood flow.
On its own a heart murmur is not a reliable indicator of heart function and is commonly found in healthy cats. You need to ask your vet what grade would your cat be on. However the significance of a murmur very much depends upon the situation.
Heart ultrasound echocardiography is very helpful as it allows a view of the internal dimensions of the heart the wall thickness and the contractility of the heart to be assessed. If the cat is born with a hereditary defect in the heart wall or the valves of the heart this can cause a murmur that is present at birth. Heart murmurs in cats are usually graded on a scale of 1 - 5.
So a scan would tell the specialist whether these cats have a preexisting condition or not. What are the signs of heart disease. Cats with benign or innocent murmurs will have a normal life span while cats with heart murmurs caused by life threatening structural defects of the heart may only live for months or a few years.
These are often described as lub and dub. Read on to know more about heart murmur in dogs its symptoms and treatment. However this may occur with murmurs of either pathological or non-pathological causes.
What is heart murmur in cats. Like others have said a murmur is a really unhelpful symptom because it can mean that the cat has heart problems like HCM or nothing at all. Fast shallow noisy or heavy breathing.