Echocardiogram vs Cardio Pet Pro BNP

I am going back and forth on whether to have the blood test or the ECG on Beeshee Marie's brother and mom.  The vet was very sure that her heart problem was inherited due to her very young age.  I am so scared mom has it and gave it to them and her brother may have it too.Altho it could just as easily have come from the father, Ranger, who was a big old stray.  He has since disappeared.  sigh.

I tend to think I should have the ECG.  Cut to the chase in other words.  From what I have read, even if the heart shows abnormalities, the blood test wouldn't indicate that.  Isn't it better to actually "see" the heart ?  Yes, the test is more money.  It is 260.00 for the blood test for the two of them.  It is 320 for the ECG for one of them.  Now that is only 50.00 more for one to have it done.  I would probably take Fetch, her brother first.  Then when I have recovered financially from that, take the other.  Maybe the beginning of next month. This will be done by a cardiologist, not my regular vet.

It just seems that would be the gold standard, the ECG.  I know it is only a picture in time.  But it is a picture, where the blood test can be negative, but still have visible problems that it won't show.

Am I making any sense?  What are your thoughts on this?  I have the appt for the bloodtest next Tuesday. I want to do the best thing here....cannot go through loosing one of them so suddenly again.  They are my responsibility and I must do the best for them.

Thanks.

What does your regular vet recommend? My vets do the Cardiopet proBNP as a complement to regular senior blood panels if the owner opts for it... I had it done for both Jamie and Miezi (a year apart, since she's a year younger). In Jamie's case, it was positive, and a cardiac ultrasound /echocardiogram was recommended. In other words, the Cardiopet test wasn't supposed to replace the echo, but indicate whether it was called for. Miezi's was negative and nothing further was done. This site gives an explanation of how the test works.

How cooperative are Fetch and his mom at the vet's? Our cardiologist prefers the echo, but has been unable to perform it on Jamie, so she uses the Cardiopet test to monitor the progression of his HCM. It's not ideal, but better than nothing. Since the difference in price isn't all that great, I personally would probably go straight to the echocardiogram if the cats usually cooperated and chances were that HCM was in the line.

Jamie was from a litter of five, and HCM wasn't diagnosed in his four siblings. However, they all died of other causes at fairly young ages, so may very well have been found to have it later.

Having lost one cat to HCM with no symptoms and no warning signs I would like to say, please skip the blood test and go for the ultrasound. Explanation here

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/heart/cardiomyopathy.html

if you scroll down to

Diagnosis of cardiomyopathy

I have two cats (both elderly) with a murmur who do not have heart disease of any kind.

So I'm including this article for you for information on heart murmurs

http://maxshouse.com/heart_murmurs.htm

And one more thing. Cats can develop heart disease at any time, especially when they get older. My Rosie had no heart disease of any kind when she was young but at one point as she was aging the ultrasound detected HCM. And ultimately the HCM made treating CRF with the fluids they need so much, so desperately, for the kidneys, impossible.

I'm trying to say, if you're ever worried about any of your babies having heart disease,

you need to test periodically for it with an ultrasound. One test is simply not enough.

Earlier this month when one of mine had to go in for a dental I was reading up on heart disease again, just for information. And I found something disturbing that, as a layperson, I don't think I completely understand. I believe it has to do with the blood test they use for detecting heart disease. Here is what I found

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21036088

Anyway, I'm very, very sorry about the baby you've just lost. Heart disease is a heartbreaking disease for which, in my experience, is no comfort, there is nothing, absolutely nothing than can make losing one of our babies to it less traumatic, less heartbreaking. It's a horrible disease our babies don't deserve. And what's even more heartbreaking is that we can't protect them from it, there is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do to make sure they won't ever develop heart disease.

(((HUGS)))

My Phoebe is at the vet right now. She just had an echo done. Would she need a ProBNP test done also? They are recommending it but I thought the echo should see enough??? Thanks...........whatever

whatever said:

My Phoebe is at the vet right now. She just had an echo done. Would she need a ProBNP test done also? They are recommending it but I thought the echo should see enough??? Thanks...........whatever

Click to expand...

How did the echo come out? My 5 yr old just had a cardiobnp test result of 683 and has a echo in like 7 weeks. I am worried about what they will find even though he seems healthy.

My Speedy has been seeing a cardiologist for HCM for 10+ years. I pay $600+ for an echo about once a year and I have never heard of the blood test, neither my regular vet nor the cardiologist has ever mentioned it.

Personally, I would not go for the echo unless other testing/symptoms indicated it might be necessary and/or helpful. For us the echo is a huge ordeal, Speedy is fractious and must be sedated with gabapentin, which I hate. I wouldn't put us through the stress and expense just to ease my own fears . If the vet hears a murmur, if the blood test shows something, if their breathing is not good, whatever, then I would go for it.

I know HCM is scary, and it they say it is worse when the initial diagnosis comes at a young age. It can be very bad news or it can be manageable. FWIW, Speedy was diagnosed more than ten years ago, I can't even remember how old she was, maybe 5. Today she is 17, diagnosed 3 years ago with congestive heart failure and still stable and happy. In my experience, medication and diet are they keys to long-term management.

The vet is the one who said to get the echocardiogram because of his high result on the cardiobnp test. The test shows the amount of protein in the blood that is created when the heart muscles expand and can indicate heart disease. I am hoping its nothing because he has no other symptoms but I lost 2 cats to sudden heart failure from heart disease suddenly and dont want to experience that again. How did you know that he had heart disease? Thats great that he has lived 10 years after diagnosis. I am hoping that our cat can live that long.

Speedy's vet heard a heart murmur and sent us to the cardiologist for follow up. That was when she had her first echo and got diagnosed with HCM. At the time they said she would live only to age 10 or 11. Three years ago, when she was 14, she advanced to CHF and they gave her 9-12 months. Today her biggest problems are weight loss (a problem for cardiac patients) and cystitis.

Well the vet didnt hear a heart murmur on Rosco and he had no other symptoms but because we lost two cats to sudden heart failure we did the bnp blood test so I am really hoping he isnt going to get a bad diagnoses or die of heart failure any time soon. I would be thrilled if he lived to 11 considering he is almost 5 now.