Heart murmur

[Lollapaloozafan]

I took my new kitten to the vet for the first time today and she said she heard a heart murmur in his heart. She said it's pretty common for the heart rate to be elevated due to nervousness of being at the vet. She said it was nothing to worry about right now and she wrote it down in his file and they would check every time he goes to the vet. Is it really anything to worry about right now?

[Lilith]

Hi there and welcome

Yes, a lot of cats have a slight heart murmur (one of mine does and she's now 15 and in good health) and they live perfectly normal lives. Also your vet's right; the heart can sound different due to nervousness, such as with a vet visit.

I don't think you need to worry, and it's good that your vet's aware and will keep checking. It sounds as if your boy will be able to live a normal life and although naturally you'd take him back to the vet's if he showed any unusual symptoms, there's no need to 'wrap him up in cotton wool' lol.

There are plenty of other people on here whose cats have a heart murmur; they may have more info for you but hope this helps for now; I wish you and your cat many happy years together and you will always find support on here, no matter what the problem

[Janey]

Hi and welcome. One of our cats had a murmer from a kitten. When he had his vaccinations/health check etc it was checked and only went up gradually. When he eventually died, when elderly, it was of something unrelated to that. Fusses to your little kitty

[booktigger]

Depending on his age, they can grow out of heart murmurs, so hopefully his will be one of those

[mr_frisky]

Did they say it was grade 1? My Kitty was diagnosed with one when she was being speyed, but they never were able to repeat the diagnosis on subsequent visits.

[TheCatsMum]

The vet will listen to his heart every time you go (this is routine) so can keep an eye on it. We've only just found out recently my 17 year old cat has a heart murmur. Obviously there's a slight risk during operations, but we've just got her through one.