I recently adopted a 3-month-old male Russian Blue kitten. Unfortunately, an emergency arose at work, and I had to postpone taking him to the vet until a week and a half after adopting him. When I did so, I was told he had a heart murmur, and that he needed an MRI to make sure that it wasn't congenital heart disease. I scheduled one for a few days later and spent the time until them researching and talking to friends and found that heart murmurs are not uncommon in kittens, particularly smaller breeds, so I didn't feel too worried.
So imagine my shock and panic when I learned that his heart's tricuspid valve turned out to be abnormal!! I was told that in some cases, this doesn't really affect a cat's health and he could live a long and healthy life. However, in other cases, it could worsen, and since there is really no cure/surgery to fix this problem, so euthanasia could be the only option. However, since he is still too small to be certain, I need to wait three months and have him tested again.
I contacted the breeder after this, and she was as shocked as I was. Tesla has a healthy appetite, his poops are normal, he plays ridiculously rambunctiously without any sign of pain, and gives no indication of poor health at all. She offered to pay for the vet trips and/or allow me to exchange Tesla for another kitten and she would care for Tesla (she is a good breeder and won't euthanize a kitten without absolute proof that he can't live without pain)
However, at this point I've already had Tesla for two weeks and have bonded strongly with him. I couldn't imagine giving him up, so the only thing I can do is wait... Three whole months!!
The breeder contacted her own vet and he said that he would have never given an MRI to a kitten at such a young age. He also said he thinks the vet I saw handled it poorly as he put thoughts in my head at a stage where I can do nothing but wait. He seemed to think that there is a much stronger likelihood of it not being problematic... However since he didn't see the MRIs, he couldn't say for certain.
Does anybody have any experience with this? I tend not to be a worrier, but I can't find a ton of information on this. It's probably partially because I live in Japan, so I was told the diagnosis in Japanese... And maybe I'm not searching the right English keywords? Any and all information would be appreciated!!!!!!
So imagine my shock and panic when I learned that his heart's tricuspid valve turned out to be abnormal!! I was told that in some cases, this doesn't really affect a cat's health and he could live a long and healthy life. However, in other cases, it could worsen, and since there is really no cure/surgery to fix this problem, so euthanasia could be the only option. However, since he is still too small to be certain, I need to wait three months and have him tested again.
I contacted the breeder after this, and she was as shocked as I was. Tesla has a healthy appetite, his poops are normal, he plays ridiculously rambunctiously without any sign of pain, and gives no indication of poor health at all. She offered to pay for the vet trips and/or allow me to exchange Tesla for another kitten and she would care for Tesla (she is a good breeder and won't euthanize a kitten without absolute proof that he can't live without pain)
However, at this point I've already had Tesla for two weeks and have bonded strongly with him. I couldn't imagine giving him up, so the only thing I can do is wait... Three whole months!!
The breeder contacted her own vet and he said that he would have never given an MRI to a kitten at such a young age. He also said he thinks the vet I saw handled it poorly as he put thoughts in my head at a stage where I can do nothing but wait. He seemed to think that there is a much stronger likelihood of it not being problematic... However since he didn't see the MRIs, he couldn't say for certain.
Does anybody have any experience with this? I tend not to be a worrier, but I can't find a ton of information on this. It's probably partially because I live in Japan, so I was told the diagnosis in Japanese... And maybe I'm not searching the right English keywords? Any and all information would be appreciated!!!!!!
