My vet has heard a grade 1 heart murmur in my cat – should my cat have further tests performed?

[vanilla]

Visited the vet today for routine check and jabs. He mentioned that my cat has a grade 1 heart murmur. He told me it wasn't due to stress from visiting the vets. My cat is 3yrs old and he REALLY gets stressed at the vets. I've read online that stress can cause low grade murmurs. He's happy and healthy in himself.

I found another thread on here where someones cat had a 'massive' heart murmur and their vet said they won't run tests unless he has symptoms. My vet on the other hand is telling me to get scans done...

Thoughts please.

[booktigger]

I wouldn't get tests done for a grade 1, especially as he gets stressed at the vets and if it is stage 1 there wont be much you can do anyway. Stress can cause it though

[vanilla]

Thanks booktigger. That's what I thought. He was talking about scans and medicine blah blah blah. I'm like :


Trying to get money out of me as business must be slow due to the coranavirus!

[Mollycat]

Nah, not without any symptoms. A murmur can be stress or exercise and they can stay asymptomatic for a long and healthy life.

[Amerififer]

Agree with others that have said I'd not do further workup unless it worsens and/or your cat becomes symptomatic. Grade one is the lowest on the scale and many cats have it without even being diagnosed . My cat Midnight was diagnosed as a 12 week old kitten and lived a long and happy life until age 18.

[fjm]

I think the only reason to get scans done at this stage would be as baseline to monitor future changes - I can see why your vet would consider that useful. One of my dogs, Poppy has a grade 2 murmur, and I had the full works which we now repeat every year, but I think I might have waited for grade 1. One reason for her regular testing is that recent research has shown that dogs with grade 3 or above murmurs do much better if they are given pimobendan immediately, even if they are asymptomatic - it would appear it can have a similar effect for cats: https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/wp ... n-Cats.pdf Perhaps ask for another check in six months, and consider scanning then if the murmur is getting worse?