Uninsured kitty. Vet found a heart murmur... help!

[User4891]

Firstly please no shoulda/woulda/couldas about the insurance. I will do what's right by my cat either way so it is what it is...

He's only 3 and I took him for his jabs today. The vet says he's got a moderate murmur and needs a scan which will cost at least £300. He's then likely to need followup scans at least every year and maybe medication.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Firstly is my fur baby gonna be ok? And secondly does anyone have any tips how to make this not bankrupt us? I feel that having the scan is a bit of a no brainer. He's so young and I can't gamble with his health by ignoring it. However, I can't justify spending unnecessary money either. Thanks

Senior midwives are not qualified to interpret heart murmurs. If they’d found anything you’d have been referred to a cardiologist who would be much more expensive. Cardiac ultrasounds in the Uk cost in the region of £300 so it’s a directly comparable service.

you’re comparing apples and oranges to derail the thread and insinunate the charge is unreasonable.
It isn’t.

They thought my car had a possible murder about 5 years ago at annual jabs. I didn't investigate it at the time as they said they can easily be harmless. Last couple times he has been nothing has been detected.

Harry was diagnosed with a heart murmur 5 years ago. We haven't had him scanned every year as it was mild and the vet didn't think it was necessary, we've just been guided by them. Last year he was diagnosed with heart failure and had to have a scan and this was done without sedating him as it would have been too risky in his case. We believe the heart failure was caused by a steroid injection that tipped him over but don't know for certain.

I don't know what medication your cat will need but it's worth asking if there are alternatives. Harry's meds are obviously different as he now has heart failure but he's on frusemide liquid which is also available in a much cheaper tablet form but I value my limbs to much to try that! He also has clopidogril, but we were told by the vet he could also have a quarter of a table of human aspirin but I went for the clopidogril as it was easier. The aspirin would have been a lot cheaper though! The other med is benefortin. Luckily we can crush everything in his food and it takes him all day sometimes but he eats it.

Harry is now 18 and last time we saw the vet she told us his heart 'is as good as it's ever going to be' so I took that as a win.

I hope your boy is OK. Any chance of a picture?

With the greatest of respect, it's hard for me to read this and not comment! A full doppler heart echo takes anything from 30 - 60 minutes with the patient "on the table" and then at least double that time again reviewing all images, taking dozens (if not hundreds) of measurements, and then worrying a comprehensive report on the findings, diagnosis and treatment plan. Most specialists only do 3 scans in a whole day as there isn't time for more.

The machines required for Doppler echo are much much more specialised than ones for regular abdominal ultrasound - the equipment for specialist heart scans can cosr anything up to 100 k (VS about 10 - 20 k for a basic vet u/s machine).

That's just the direct costs you mention. Depending on the size of the patient, there is usually at least one (sometimes two) veterinary nurses - also professionals - present during the scan to help soothe and hold the patient the correct way in order to get the views that are needed.

Not to mention that the training that goes into being able to do echoes is extremely extensive. Most cardiologists have several years of specialist training just to be able to do them to the required level.

I am also trained in abdominal and pregnancy ultrasound. Honestly pregnancy ultrasound is trainable to a good standard within a day!

I don't mean any disrespect whatsoever. You would have no way of knowing these things - I myself thought echo costs seemed high until I did my cardiology training. Now I see they are really, really not.

Hi,
Both of my cats were diagnosed with heart murmurs due to left ventricular hypertrophy. When Cat 1 was diagnosed both of them were young (under 1 year) and we didn't have insurance. We immediately got insurance for both (Cat 1's obv didn't cover her for any heart stuff) and within 3 months Cat 2 was also diagnosed - but fortunately she was covered.

Both our cats saw a kitty cardiologist (I didn't realise this was a thing either) regularly. Initially every 6 months and then tapering down to every year because they were stable.

The assessment took about half a day each time. Cat 1 was always a bit skittish and so usually needed some sort of sedation. Our cardiologist used a range of drugs, always trying to use the least amount possible, and something that wouldn't affect her too badly. But once he had to use ketamine!

For Cat 1, who wasn't insured, the assessments cost £600-700 each. The cardiologist came to our local vet surgery and did a full check up including sonography and he would record the scans so when I came to pick them up he would talk me through the findings as we watched the video and share the full set of notes. If they weren't too skittish (they were usually pretty calm with him) he would whip out the double ended stethoscope and let me listen to the murmur, explaining what I was hearing.

He put both of them on aspirin, which needed to be crushed and mixed into food twice a week. This was not expensive.

We had 5 really good years with Cat 1 where she didn't seem at all affected by the heart condition, before she very suddenly had a blood clot (saddle thrombus) in the middle of the night. It must have been very painful because I had never her her cry like that before. We immediately took her to the vet hospital where they examined her and eventually explained that her chances of survival weren't great and even if she did, she would never have the use of her back two legs again, and would be at risk of another clot. So we had to make the very sad decision to let her go.

Cat 2 however, is still going strong at 14 years old. Her condition has not changed all (i.e. no deterioration, no worsening of the murmur) and seems well managed with just the aspirin.

Having a good veterinary cardiologist made a difference. Ours is called Craig Venter. I think he travels all over the UK doing clinics. I couldn't rate him highly enough.

I hope this is helpful.

Just an update. He had the scan today. Pretty ok. Slightly thickened septum which they want to keep an eye on and check again in 6 months. Fingers crossed it doesn't worsen

Thanks for the update @User4891 I’m glad Kitty had it and the results were pretty ok.

My other cat has a thickened septum but no murmur. We kept an eye on it for 5 years, with absolutely no change. Until I said to stop. As it was money down the drain. The cardiologist thought it might just be structural, and normal for het anyway. Rather than disease. Since had has breathing issues. It would make sense.

Thanks. That's very reassuring. I just really hope this doesn't shorten his life significantly. He's such a sweet cat. The vet wasn't even able to listen to his heart this time because he wouldn't stop purring which is so typically him 🤣