Troubling Diagnosis what do I do

I just had to take my poor SpookieBear back to the vet for what I thought was a routine check up so I could get some medication for her tape worms. Apperently someone had other ideas because as the vet was checking her out she found, what she called a significant heart murmur. And that's what could be the reason that Spookie is eating constantly and still not putting on any weight. I told her that I had her checked last year and wasn't told anything, and again the year before she was taken in with what the vet called "feline flu" at which point the new vet kind of looked at me funny. She said she's never heard of a stickly indoor cat getting the flu. I told her that the old vet did a pretty thurough evaluation and didn't say anything about a murmur but whatever was wrong with her then the medication he gave her help her.

I'm wondering, does a heart murmur just show up, or is it there from birth? She said she needed to do an ultrasound to see how big it was. She also said that putting Spookie on medication for it at this point would be useless because it may be too soon for any medications to do anything.

I'm getting a little hinky vibe here and i'm not sure if its just me and the fact that I was so upset that my baby had such a horrible thing. I remember the hell I went through when her brother was diagnosed as having only one working kidney and then the vet told me he wouldn't last 3 years and yet we didn't change anything with exercise or diet and he lived to be 19...

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated

Hmm...do you like this vet practice? Sounds like you're not sure. 

It is my understanding that a heart murmur can get progressively worse and/or be a precursor to more a serious heart condition. It can start out so slight that it is virtually undetectable. A lot of cats live long, healthy lives with a mild heart murmur. I suppose it depends on the intensity of the murmur and if it is related to something else more critical. Here are a few links:

http://www.icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/heart-murmurs-cats

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...icle/animal-health/heart-murmurs-in-cats/3913

Sorry you are having trouble with your cat.  I'm not a vet, but have had many cats over the years with a variety of illnesses.

The vet wants to see the size of your cat's heart because an enlarged heart is a sign of cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease.  I had a cat with that condition, and my vet took X-rays to diagnose it.  If an x-ray costs less than an ultrasound, can they try that?  If your cat's heart is not enlarged, then I think it is just monitored.  I had another cat with a slight murmur that never progressed.  She was fine.

Did you have bloodwork done? You said your cat is not gaining weight, despite a decent appetite.  That could be a number of things, but an overactive thyroid can lead to heart murmurs, so this should definitely be checked. Blood sugar too to rule out diabetes. I would get that done before spending a ton of money on a heart workup.  If it's thyroid, it's easily controlled. 

Good luck.

How old is SpookieBear? I agree with LindaMc62 that the first thing to do is get some blood work done. Cheaper than an echocardiogram, and will help rule out (or in) some of the health conditions that could be a factor. Hyperthyroidism is definitely on the list. 

Also, a heart murmur isn't a death sentence. My cat had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, diagnosed via echocardiogram, and he lived to almost 21. He took a beta-blocker called Atenolol for 6 or so years that helped slow down his galloping heart rate (tachycardia). I would also recommend, if there isn't another underlying cause, that a veterinary cardiologist be consulted. Their knowledge on heart issues and the various medications that might help would be much more in depth than the average DVM.

A heart murmur is an extra sound that shouldn't be there due to some change in normal blood flow. It can be benign or significant and the louder the murmur the worse they tend to be and murmurs are graded on a numerical scale (you can ask what your cats rated murmur is). Worst case is it's hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which my cat had, an echocardiogram is the next step to diagnosis. You should feel fine and confident asking for a second vet to listen to the heart and see if they agree that more diagnostics are needed.

It's a good idea to get a second opinion on things like this, preferably from a veterinary cardiologist. If they agree that there's a significant murmur, you can decide what further tests you want to have done. 

I have a cat with a mild heart murmur that has not progressed over many years. She has no symptoms of heart trouble at all. So, having a heart murmur in itself isn't necessarily a terrible thing. It can be a sign of something serious being wrong, or it can be nothing.