Kitten with heart murmur :(

Hi everyone, I would love to speak/ get advice off of anyone that has had a kitty with a heart murmur.
My beautiful little girl (fox) is 12 weeks old, and today I took her to the vets to get her injections done. When the vet picked fox up she immediately said to me 'I can feel a heart murmur' and on further inspection she gave me the devastating news that fox has what could be a level 6 heart murmur.
She then told me I had three options.
1 have her put down- this is a immediate no no for me, as she is a happy healthy little lady, who's eating, pooping, playing etc. and I refuse to have her life ended so soon before she's even had a chance to enjoy some of it.
2- give her bak to previous owners- again this is a no no, as she is my responsibility and ther is no way I could even think about parting with her when what she needs now is lov and stability.
3- have her seen to by a hearts specialist. This seem liked the better option for me, but after speaking to my insurance people she isn't covered for this. And as much as I want her to see one, there is no way I can afford this .
I just don't know what to do. The vet has suggested she may have a life expectancy of 12/18 months. With medication. So as of next months she will be on her med (reason she won't start before is because apparently because she's so small, the dose would be so small and not much point).
Has any one had any experience with such a young kitten with this kind if heart defect?
I haven't a clue what to do about spraying either, there's no way I want her to go under as in not sure she would pull though but I don't want her to be in distress about it.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Thank you from me and fox in advance.

Oh I'm so sorry!

I don't have much experience with heart murmurs, and not in kittens. We have one cat that is 9, and was diagnosed this time last year with a heart murmur that was never detected before. We had the battery of tests run, including a cardiac ultrasound. Thankfully, she does not have heart disease, her issue is due to mitral valve prolapse.

Did the vet tell you what type of murmur she heard? What medicine is being proposed and why? What was the actual diagnosis beyond "heart murmur grade 6?"

Because it's not that simple, and at that level, the vet should have been able to hear the type of murmur, and thus have an educated guess as to the cause of the murmur. There are a number of different types, not all are a death sentence, and it MIGHT be that your kitten will grow out of this, if your vet is not experienced enough with murmurs to know.... but that's why the medication bothers me.

If I were in your shoes and could not afford the cardiologist or cardiac ultrasound, or electrocardiogram (I'm not sure what's being recommended, but she shouldn't need both), I would get a second vet opinion (from a vet at a different vet practice).

Here is more information for you:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/heart-murmur-in-cats.html

http://www.vetinfo.com/feline-heart-murmurs.html

If you read these articles, you can see that the information conflicts with what you were told by your vet. So we really need to know a bit more detail about what medicine the vet wants her on, and why the vet thinks medicine is required....


Vibes for your baby!

Thank you so much for your reply, I will give the links a read. The vet said she suspected it could be a leaky valve, as fox was born to a vet young mum, and was the only one in the litter, she also has only one eye due to under development in the womb.
Her medication would be aspirin and also something else to thin her blood.
I think I shall definitely go and get a second opinion before I put her on this medication, as I don't want to make matters worse. In a ideal world she would have a cardiogram before the medication, but unless I win the lottery I most definitely can not find this .
I have read that vets can also mistaken a nervous kitten for having a murmur so I'm hoping if I get a second opinion the results won't be a level 6, fingers crossed!
Again thank you so much for your advice.

My kitty also has a heart murmur. He's 10. They said somewhere between 5-6. It used to be 4. Does she have any problems with blood pressure? It's odd the vet would suggest putting a cat down just for a heart murmur! They have so many different causes! Some of them are relatively harmless (mine has trouble breathing due to the pressure in his chest but other than that is completely healthy). 

I was pretty shocked myself when she suggested having her out down, she's such a lively little thing, and you would never suspect she had the condition.
The vet didn't check anything other then her heart beat, no blood pressure checks, or anything. I don't doubt that she doesn't have a murmur, as you can definitely feel something is up, when you hold her chest, but should she have done some other checks?
Thanks

Definitely! It sounds like you should get a second opinion for certain. Maybe a Feline-Only Vet? 

My vet reccomended a feline cardiologist (yes, they apparently do exist!). My vet reccomended an echocardiogram to see what the actual defect is and if it's treatable with medicine. Just throwing pills at her won't help, especially if those pills have no relevence to her condition after all. 

Great! I'll give it a google and hope I have one in the area, I guess if I'm gonna being paying a lot of money for a medicine that might not even work, then I have no option then the get her to a cardiologist. Hears hoping they will allow me to make a payment plan for the payment :|.
Am pretty mad at my vet right now for even suggesting I should have her out down! I wah I had questioned it more at the time, but I was so besides myself that I didn't think.
I shall be taking her for a second opinion tomorrow.

That's probably a good idea. I know my vet at Banfield offers Wellness plans that are usually no more than 30 dollars a month (even for my special needs Heart Murmur kitty).  

Hi,

I know this was originally posted awhile ago, but I was wondering how your kitten is doing?  I have a young one with a grade 6 murmur and would like to know what you went through.

midnightkitty said:

Hi,
I know this was originally posted awhile ago, but I was wondering how your kitten is doing?  I have a young one with a grade 6 murmur and would like to know what you went through.

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Hi, the original poster, katefox, has not actually logged into TCS since the day after they created their account back in 2012 so I doubt you will get a response from her. When in doubt you can check any members activity by going to their profile page.

My suggestion is that you start a new thread on the subject and perhaps tell us a little bit more about your cat and his/her condition and prognosis.

Stephen