Heart Murmur In Cats Uk
Heart murmurs are very common in cats one study shows more than one third of cats have a heart murmur.
Heart murmur in cats uk. 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. Just as a fever can be something or nothing a murmur can be similar. Heart murmur is also known as heart arrhythmia.
Being told that your pet has a heart murmur can be very daunting. In some cases affected kittens will actually outgrow the murmur as they reach maturity and the heart too grows to full functionality and this condition is fairly common and rarely impairs the cats heart function in later life. A heart murmur may be heard by your vet when he or she listens to your cats heart.
1 being the minimum and 5 being the maximum. Often one of the first symptoms of heart disease. Although a murmur may signify a problem with the heart or its blood.
An echocardiogram is necessary to differentiate between a heart murmur that is just due to excitement versus. 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.
Murmurs in cats do commonly change in intensity with stressexcitement or variation in heart rate. What is heart murmur in cats. In a normal heart cycle heartbeats create a sound in unison to the closing of heart valves.
However heart murmurs in cats cause a peculiar swishing sound whilst the heartbeats. Heart murmurs in cats. Heart murmurs are surprisingly common in cats.