Heart Murmur In Cats Uk
However this may occur with murmurs of either pathological or non-pathological causes.
Heart murmur in cats uk. An echocardiogram is necessary to differentiate between a heart murmur that is just due to excitement versus. However the significance of a murmur very much depends upon the situation. Murmurs are commonly described as a whooshing sound and are a result of unstable blood flow in the heart.
Not all heart murmurs indicate a problem. Often one of the first symptoms of heart disease. Your vet will be able to hear whether you cat has a murmur using their stethoscope.
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. Describing the murmur as significant isnt really helpful in terms of how you might agree to any treatment. The good news is that approximately half of these cats will not go on to develop heart disease nor will it.
A heart murmur is one of several types of abnormal sounds your veterinarian can hear when listening to your pets heart with a stethoscope. A heart murmur is caused by turbulent blood flow within the heart or the large vessels exiting from the heart. These are often described as lub and dub.
Fast shallow noisy or heavy breathing. 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. A heart murmur is an unusual sound that can be heard with a stethoscope when listening to a cats heartbeat.
Heart murmurs in cats are usually graded on a scale of 1 - 5. This is the only test which can readily distinguish between different types of heart disease in cats. It can also show where a heart murmur is originating from.