Has anyone had any experience with cat heart murmurs caused by old age?

Sid is 15 and got diagnosed with one last week. He hadn't needed to go to the vet for aaages so it was a bit of a shock!

my poor Sid is finally having his age catch up with him!



he also has a gum infection (being treated with antibiotics) and a slight upper resp. infection (sneezy cat = why i was at the vet in the first place) and needs his teeth cleaned.

my mum is all gung ho about getting his teeth cleaned, but apparently its a concern because of the murmur.

At the moment its only mild - the vet just listened with a stethoscope.

He has another appointment next week, will they do other tests? Will the tests cost much =S, is it worth cleaning his teeth?!

theyre quite tartary apparently, but he doesnt have problems eating



blah im worried

November 2nd one of our ferrets Charlie was put to sleep because of a tumour

November 20th our other 15 year old cat Cooky died suddenly, we'd had him since I was 6.

i really can't lose Sid, especially not so quickly after Cooky.



someone make me feel better (or er.. worse, if you have to) =(



on a side note my Siddy is such a good boy, he swallows his antibiotics like im giving him candy.

My kitty (she's younger than yours, 4 years old) has a heart murmur. I did a dental on her a few years back and the vet recommended I schedule a cardiac ultrasound on her before I proceed with the dental to make sure she'll be safe for the anesthesia. I opted not to do the ultrasound because, 1) it was a mild heart murmur and she's a healthy cat otherwise, 2) It was a bit out of my budget at the time, and 3) most kitty heart murmurs are harmless. So I weighed the odds, the doctor but a catheter in her "just in case" anything happened during the procedure, and she was fine.



Just over Christmas she contracted an Upper Respiratory Infection (was "sneezy" like you mentioned, and lethargic) and I took her in. When the vet was listening to her, the murmur sounded worse.

She has since recovered from the URI and I'll probably take her back in to have her doc take another listen to the ol' ticker to make sure it was just the illness making her heart murmur worse ((which I think is the case)). If it's still bad, I'll probably do the ultrasound on her



With an older kitty, however, more caution has to be excercised. The vet would probably recommend an ultrasound ((If they haven't already)) and most likely extensive pre-anesthetic bloodwork to make sure Sid's organs are in tip-top shape to handle the procedure. It's probably going to be a bit pricey. But you want to take care of those teeth because they can start to affect different organ systems and really make him sick if left untreated!

((Hope this helped!))



Good luck, I'm sure he'll do fine. Keep us posted!

Heart murmurs are tricky things - they can be a sign of something important, but they can also be completely insignificant. Even if you go ahead with further tests, it won't alter what you do for Sid. Heart murmurs do not require treatment unless clinical signs begin to develop, which may well never happen.



I'd say you would be better to spend the money on the dental - it will need to be done, and better done sooner while Sid is as healthy as possible. Dentals are even more important in animals with heart murmurs and the bacteria form the teeth will enter th bloodstream and can cause further heart problems. Pre-op bloods would be a good idea, although will add to the cost, mainly to check that Sid's kidneys are up to an anaesthetic.





Hope all goes well for Sid and he is feeling better soon!

Mandi has a murmur that they believe is due to her over-active thyroid. She takes medication twice daily for the thryoid condition....well, I should say she takes it when she feels like it. She also has bouts of vomiting which can last anywhere from 1-3 days. This occurs every two weeks or so. When she's not taking her meds regularly everything goes out of whack and the murmur worsens. But luckily, things always go back to normal as soon as she's back on track with the eating/taking her medicine. Right now we're in a good place. She's 14 years old. Her teeth are really bad as well but the doctor will not do the cleaning on her because of not knowing how she will handle the anethesia.

If Sid's murmur is mild I wouldn't be too concerned. A murmur doesn't necessarily have to be that serious. I probably wouldn't worry too much about cleaning his teeth either, as long as it's not hindering his being able to eat. Good luck and keep us posted on how things progress.



Edit: This posted after goldfish...good point about bacteria affecting the heart...

Thanks guys i feel better now!

Especially what you said goldfish about the bacteria. I mean its already moving around if the infection spread to his nose.

The vet never even mentioned his kidneys. hmmm. She did say to watch out for breathing problems or bad pain in the back legs as it could indicate a blood clot (cue me paranoidly stroking Sids legs every time i see him)



All the vets said really said so far about the murmur is to have a checkup every 3 months, I guess I'll know more when we go back and ask a million billion questions.



I think one ultrasound is worth paying for if its offered, just because of the anaesthetic. My mum kept saying to book him in for the dental at the same time as this checkup!



Attached is a pic of Sid doing what Sid does best, begging for food (this time at Christmas dinner, wanting my dad's turkey). Cant talk about a cat without showing them off =0

Not to worry - I only mention the kidneys because renal problems are very common in older cats and it's important to know how they are doing before a general anaesthetic. It doesn't sound as if that is a problem with Sid at the moment; it's just good to check and if necessary give him some IV fluids during his dental.



Good luck and let us know how he is getting on!

I had a cat that had one. It didnt seem to affect him or his quality of life at all.