Cat Heart Murmur

[SoleLavender]

I'm sorry that I'm posting in AIBU but I need some quick answers/reassurances.

So my beautiful Russian Blue cat (2 years) has been diagnosed with a grade 1 heart murmer. The vet has recommended we take her to see a specialist vet cardiologist.

Has anyone any experience of this? Did your cat develop heart disease? Did they have a long life.

I want to avoid Google.

My cat had a murmer when she was about 3 years old. She was diagnosed with a heart condition. She has tablets every day and is now 9 and coping fine! Hope yours is ok too xx

My 9 year old cat has a heart murmur, it was only diagnosed a few years ago but the vet said it should have been picked up sooner. It has never caused any issues yet, fingers crossed! I hope your cat has a long and happy life

That's good to hear thank you @modgepodge. Does your insurance cover the medication at all? We have lifetime cover but need to call to check if heart murmers are covered.

Our cat was diagnosed with a heart murmur at 1, put on medication at 2. Now 4 and apparently it's improved and he no longer needs the meds. My understanding is they're very common in cats - hope all goes well with your girl.

Oh and our insurance covered the scans - not sure about medicine, it was otc aspirin so we didn't claim for it.

My cat has had a grade 3-4 murmur since he was a kitten. He’s 9 now and so far hasn’t needed any medication and it’s never bothered him. Murmurs in cats are very common.

Recommending visiting a specialist vet cardiologist seems highly unusual for a grade 1 murmur.

Mine is 13 and had one diagnosed a few years ago, apparently very common and he’s never had any trouble with it.

Our cat has a heart condition, picked up when she was 3ish. Takes tablets now and originally had a heart scan. This was v traumatic for the cat as she reacted badly to the sedation. Our vet and i are in complete agreement that we just monitor her and keep taking the medication which is covered on the insurance. She is now almost 10. What the vet originally said was that we shouldn't worry as the cat itself doesn't know about the heart condition. They will just go about their usual cat business totally oblivious. Ours just tends to sleep more. Try not to worry.

My cat has a heart murmur but has never been put on medication. He's 10 and pretty active for his age.

Thank you all very much. That's very re-assuring. I might leave the cariodologist for now then if it's only a grade 1 .

My cat has cardiomyopathy, detected when he went for his one year check, followed by an expensive cat cardiologist and cat scan! It's checked every six months when he goes for usual check ups and I'm glad we had insurance before it was diagnosed as the tests etc were expensive. Veet said he might need beta blockers when older, he's eleven soon and no issues at all so far. My current vet said murmurs and cardiomyopathy are actually quite common in cats

My cat has a murmur, he's been on medication for a couple of years now and doing fine. He has regular check up with the heart specialist - all covered by insurance

My cat has the same - he's 12 or 13 (I've lost track) and has never needed any meds or had any problems as yet. Hopefully it'll be the same for your cat.

My cat is seven. I took her to the vet's a couple of weeks ago to be groomed (outdoorsy Maine Coon- she gets in a right old state).
They told me she had a minor heart murmur (didn't mention grade) but said that it was nothing to worry about.

@SoleLavender

That's good to hear thank you *@modgepodge*. Does your insurance cover the medication at all? We have lifetime cover but need to call to check if heart murmers are covered.

Yes, insurance covers the scans and medication. We also have lifetime cover thankfully. Annoyingly I only discovered after diagnosis that it only goes to £500 per year per condition. I would have changed to get more cover, but then her heart condition wouldn’t be covered. £500 has been enough For the heart condition each year so far though.

Mine has grade 3/4 murmer, at 13 years old. He's on daily tablets, sleeps a lot and is very happy. The way the vet spoke it felt like it was a matter of weeks, but this was over a year ago.