Information on Grade 2 Heart Murmur.....

Hello. I have adopted a 8-9 week old kitten who has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 Heart Murmur with an over-bite... The rescue group named him Sprocket, I renamed him to BlackJack(capital B and a capital J). He has a long and sad story as well. His breeder put his litter up for sale in a petstore, which naturally, had a health check done on all kittens.. He came back positive for a Heart Murmur, grade 2 and with a overbite.. The petstore told the vet to put him down(kill him) and gave him to the vet.. well the vet.. being so loving and good hearted couldn't see the need for that to happen to such a loving, gentle, kind, sweet-natured kitten... so the vet called a rescue group who came and got the kitten... They posted the kitten's page online at petfinder.com... I saw him, gave them a week to find him a home and kept tabs on him online... I called them on the 7th day.. THey said that nobody called in to inquire about him, so i went and brought him home. Now I am doing some scrambling to do some research to learn about his Heart Condition. I'm calling my vet in the morning to get information from him, But i was wonderig if I could get some from here as well... So basically thats his long and sad story.... I have a 2 yr old Chausie breed female feline since she was 11months old(black/brown spotted/stripped tabby--african wildcat bred to a male tabby--).. and i had to put down a 7 1/2 yr old cat i had since his birth 2 months ago. So i'm not a novice at being a cat friend. Btw. Here's his picture....

My cat that i put down... He was put down in march of 2007. He was born May 1999. He was put down to overweight issues that caused heart issues... vet's recommendation since he was suffering.

BlackJack is adorable.

It's my understanding that a grade 1 or 2 murmur has a very good chance of being "outgrown"...I think typically by 6 months of age. Not guaranteed, but a very good chance.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your other kitty.

You figured out how to get pics posted! He's cute as can be!

Hopefully, you're vet can offer more info. Do you have an appt. set up yet?

No... No vet appt set up yet. The rescue group asked me to wait a month first to make sure everything is okay due to my older feline.... But so far... They are turning into buddies.. My vet is getting the records from the rescue group's vet on BlackJack.. And Thank you.. He is adorable. Thanks for the advice.. Thats what I thought.. My oldest cat, Smokey, when he was alive, He had a grade 2 as a kitten that he outgrew between ages 1 and 2. I just wanted information and advice on how to get him to live a long and happy life... past Smokey..... LMAO.. BlackJack is now attacking my foot.

thank you for telling me how to upload a picture onto here. i really appreciate it. So I am doing the right thing or am i doing it totally wrong??

Originally Posted by r_c61

thank you for telling me how to upload a picture onto here. i really appreciate it. So I am doing the right thing or am i doing it totally wrong??

Click to expand...

No....you did it just right! I just can't believe my instructions made sense!

I don't have any experince with Heart Murmurs, but I had a few minutes to see if I could fiind something to help you...Hope you enjoy TCS its a wonderful place, and let us know how he is doing, And BTW he's a Doll

Maybe some of these sites will help you,

http://www.cpvh.com/Articles/19.html

http://www.vetinfo4cats.com/cmurmur.html


http://www.2ndchance.info/heart.htm

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs...a.2004.225.384

Thank you for the websites HalfPint. Also..... The last link wont work.. It says invalid.... Just a FYI.. I saved those websites to my favorites list. lol. I am just like a sponge.. soaking up information.

Yah. I do tend to take it to the extreme at times when its very vital that I know as much as I possibly can... Like now... I'll look over those websites at a leisurely pace over the weekend and make mental and written notes. Thanks for the advice and tips.... And Is it normal for a kitten with this condition to sleep alot??? Its been a long time since i've had a kitten.. if my deceased cat was still alive it'd be 8 years now.... and BlackJack LOVES catnip. lmao... I got pampered felines.. thanks to my female.. Chelsey(who fits her name to a tee... she acts like royality at times... lol).. Anyways. Its now my bedtime.. its 1:50am here in Nebraska. Thanks a bunch for all the advice and tips and knowledge. G'Nite.

Well Now I don't know if its because of that but Kittens tend to play pretty hard for a bit then they just go to sleep wherever, basically I'd say they sleep alot in general. Good Night Have a Great Weekend

87okay thanks.. he does play really hard and for quite some time when he does play.. so i think its just exhaustion that makes him sleep for so long. last night he took a 4 hour nap on my lap.. Gnite and Have a great Weekend.

Grade 1 & 2 heart murmurs are often something they will grow out of, but even if he doesn't he can have a very good quality of life. Stan has a small murmur and you wouldn't even know it. He's very active (bounces off the walls in fact); doesn't sleep anymore than my other kitty.

The only real precaution we take is when he gets anything that requires anesthesia, they pay extra attention to make sure his murmur hasn't gotten worse.

If you can swing it financially, I wouldn't wait to take him to the vet. If it doesn't work out with your other kitty and you have to return him, then you have donated a vet visit to the rescue.

He's a cutie