heart murmur/vet dilemma

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in a while but I am a frequent visitor to the forums! I have a bit of a dilemma. We recently adopted a sister for Seamus. Her name is Smudge and she is 5 months old. I brought her to the vet clinic that where Seamus had his wellness exam a couple of months ago. This is a new vet for us since we moved over the summer, but I liked the doctor he saw and felt good about the place in general. However, the other vet that works there is on maternity leave and when I brought Smudge in we got stuck with the one who is covering for her temporarily instead of Seamus's doctor. To be honest this woman rubbed me the wrong way right from the beginning. At the first visit, she did a full exam and diagnosed Smudge with a mild URI for which she was placed on Clavamox for 10 days. I came back 2 weeks later for a follow up with the same vet, and she determined that the cat was much better and proceeded to vaccinate her and take a blood sample since she will be spayed soon. During the visit the vet thought she detected a heart murmur. She didn't give me much information except for recommending that I get an expensive echocardiogram done before the spay. She did not pick up on any sort of murmur at the first visit. Also, when I received the blood test results, it showed a high white blood cell count which is most likely because Smudge was still getting over the URI. This vet is suggesting follow up blood work at another $80. Like I said, I did not get a good feel for her the way I did with the first vet I saw with Seamus. I should also mention, besides the occasional sneeze, Smudge seems to be in perfect health and is doing normal kitten things. Here are my questions:

1. I plan to get her spayed even with the murmur. Is it necessary to go through the echocardiogram? Even the vet indicated it was slight and said it was most likely nothing to be concerned about.

2. Since the murmur wasn't detected at the earlier visit (and I lack confidence in this particular vet), my gut is telling me to get a second opinion. The thing is, I'm not sure whether I should go to the other vet at the same clinic (who I liked) or a completely different practice? My only concern is that the other vet may be less inclined to contradict her colleague. Someone who is unaffiliated with the practice may approach it in a more objective way.

3. Is a follow up blood test really necessary since it was probably for certain that the URI was causing the high white count? In hindsight, I think they probably should have waited till she was 100% before running any blood tests at all.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!

Many of my rex kittens had mild heart murmmers between 2-6 months old (on routine checkups). And all of them disappeared by 8 months old. I usually got the females spayed (or owners did) by 8 months old. And the vet never mentioned any problem with heart murmmers at the time they were spayed.

No complications. IMO I would not pursue the heart murmmer thing when being spayed. If it was a problem then it should be done. But she didn't verify it (only "thought" she detected it). If it was that bad at the time, you would have known right away.

Maybe take them to another vet and have them spayed. IMO you shouldn't have any problems.

My little one Lucky has a slight murmer. my Vet told me it was nothing to worry about, they quite often out grow it, He told me that it was a waste of money to do the electrocardiogram, it was very expensive, and unless hears something more significant, he didn't recommend it. I would see if you could get an appointment with the one you trust, and get their opinion. My toy pom had a slight murmer as a puppy , there is nothing now

Thanks for your replies. This helps to validate what I was already feeling. I think I'm going to go with my gut and get a second opinion. I really don't want to put her through any unnecessary tests, especially if it's something she may grow out of in the next few months. Like I said, I still plan to get her spayed regardless because I think there are probably more health risks in the long run if I don't. Not to mention quality of life issues being at stake (hers and mine! ).

My cat has a heart murmur (which an EKG revealed to be a mild heart condition requiring medication). But even so, some vets would hear the murmur and others wouldn't. It's quite common for it not to be picked up at first... hearing it can depend on whether the cat is sick or stressed at the time the vet examines it.

So it's likely that your cat does have a murmur, but the first vet didn't detect it.

However, that doesn't mean it's something serious. Murmurs are very common in cats. They can have them all their lives and suffer no ill effects.

On the other hand, they can indicate something serious. My cat was showing no other signs of heart disease... but the cardiologist said he definitely needed medication to stave off heart failure in the future.

I do think you should switch vets if you're not happy with the one you have. And I wouldn't think the murmur needs to be resolved before the neutering.