Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of a kitten with a heart murmur?

We've just been told that a kitten who was supposed to be going to his new owner on Monday has a heart murmur.

He has no other symptoms and seems perfectly healthy but we're not sure what to do next?

Fiona

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http://www.elmstarbengals.co.uk

Sorry Fiona-i don't but at least your aware and can inform potential familyWhat did your vet say reguarding future?

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Dogs have owners, Cats have slaves

Burnthwaites Siamese

I think it depends on how bad the heart murmur is, doesn't necessarily stop them from living full and happy lives.

Depends on the grade of the murmur. Does your vet feel the kitten can be homed?

We had our first experience of a heart murmur last year. Took a litter to the vets only for our vet to examine Amaro and tell me she had a bad heart murmur and would not live past 2 years. Once she told me that, I brought the litter home, burst into tears and we knew that she'd be here in our family for life. She went through a very bad patch where we thought she would die a few months back. Close friends were visiting and saw her and also felt she wouldn't last the week, but now, she is as active as the rest of our cats, tears around like a loon, runs up and down the stairs, and I reckon she'll be herelonger than our vet thinks.

You obviously have to tell her chosen kitten family but it does depend on how bad it is really. Plenty of low grade mumur kittens are homed at a reduced price to special families who are aware of what they are taking on.

This is our heart murmur child: Amaro

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Purrs and best wishes
Kat
http://www.schimmelorientals.com

Not much really other than recommending we get an ECG test, which of course they don't do there and we'd have to go to Potters Bar.

The thing is the kitten seems a picture of health.

Fiona

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http://www.elmstarbengals.co.uk

Fiona-Amaro is inspiringGorgeous too

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Dogs have owners, Cats have slaves

Burnthwaites Siamese

Amaro is gorgeous, here's Benji.

Attached Images

DSC02653-Bengy.JPG (85.8 KB, 9 views)

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http://www.elmstarbengals.co.uk

What a gorgeous little toot, good luck and I hope things work out for him.

The first siamese breeding queen I bought, I found that she had a heart murmur graded as a 3, that would have been there since birth. I didn't find out until she was 5mths old during a routine visit to the vet. Needless to say she was spayed and never bred from.

She was the largest in the litter, and perfectly healthy and VERY active all her life without showing any signs of having a heart problem. Until she was 6 1/2 and she started having fits which turned out to be cardiac fits and one morning she had a massive heart attack and was gone. 10 mins before that she had been tucking into a plate of chicken and playing like she always did. That said I have read about cats that have lived ripe old ages with heart murmurs.

I think all you can say is there is no guarantee with him see what his prospective new owners think.

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SELKCAH NORWEGIAN FOREST CATS
www.selkcahcats.co.uk