10 week old kitten with a heart murmur

Hi,

I recently got an adorable kitten who is now 10 weeks old (have had him for 2 weeks). I took him to the vet the day after I got him and was told he has a heart murmur. They haven't told me the great or anything specific, but have said it is reasonably loud.

Im absolutely devastated as I'm so attached to him already and can't bear the thought of him murmur being fatal.

Has anyone had any experience with heart murmurs in kittens? Please let me know as I am very concerned and worry about him everyday.

He is otherwise very happy and active. Thanks

First thing it talk to your vet and find out how serious the vet thinks it is. If you don't feel comfortable talking to your vet or you feel they are dismissive find another or get a second opinion. My cat in high school and college had a strange lump and the vet dismissed it initially. I knew it was more than an abscess or something normal (that cat fought a lot so I knew my abscess) so I said I wanted to see my normal vet and sat in the waiting room for two hours waiting for him to have an opening. When I saw him I asked for blood work and a biopsy; he listened to me and it turned out to be cancer. I refused to see the first vet again and eventually changed hospitals to a cat only center when he retired (most vets only see 20% cats and may not be as familiar with them).

That said, that same cat had a very slight murmur when he was a kitten and by the time he was an adult it was gone. I still mentioned it every time I took him in so the vet would be extra observant when checking his heart but it was nothing that impacted him or caused problems in his life. I know sometimes it can be serious and there is testing you can do to find out if it is a more serious condition. Personally, unless the vet is pushing for testing I'd wait until the kitten is 6 months and see if it outgrew it before doing anything more serious than blood work and maybe an x-ray to rule out any illness or disease related cause.  

Thanks for your reply kieka. It makes me feel a bit better knowing that he may outgrow it. I'm sorry to hear about your cat, how is he doing now?

I will definitely be more persistent with the vet and urge them to give me more information about his heart murmur, as them being vague just makes me worry even more.

My Mom's Doll Faced Persian had a grade 4 heart murmur and she lived for 15 years with no so much as an issue. She was a typical spastic kitten, bombed everywhere etc. We took her to a cardiologist when she was 2 or 3 to make sure things were ok, and the specialist said that she's had cats in with less of a murmur than mom's kitty that had heart disease and , like Mom's kitty, higher murmur but no issue whatsoever.  Sadly, when mom was not well and in and out of hospital, Tiffany began to develop issues--while her blood work showed no issues, she started to have random problems. She was 15 and she went into CHF so suddenly. We put her down and it was so heartbreaking, but we wouldn't have done anything differently. She was an amazing cat and we still miss her <3 <3

That must have been so difficult for your mum , that's amazing that she lived 15 years with her murmur! I live in the UK but the cat forums here aren't very informative regarding heart murmurs so thought I would try here.

With my kitten he's never showed any signs of being out of breath etc, the only thing I've been curious about is if it's normal for me to be able to always feel his heart through his chest?

Cancer took that cat, Chance, fairly quickly. We had them remove the initial growth and did a round of chemo but it came back even stronger. He was gone within a year of diagnosis. Our vet though was amazing and came to our house to put him down when it was time. He was only 8 years old when he passed. Thank you for asking. 

Its made me paranoid when it comes to my cats health so I totally feel your panic. Just remember that a heart murmur can be some many things and have so many different degrees of severity. Take it a day and a step at a time and you will get through it. 

Sorry to hear that . Thank you, hopefully my kitten will be alright

I have faith that it will work out. Best of luck.

My cat had a heart murmer the first time I took him in to the vets for his checkup/shots. He would have been around 15 weeks old roughly. He had grown out of it by the next visit....I think it was around 2 or 3 months later. He's 8 years old now. They check him every year when I take him in for his shots to make sure it hasn't returned.

Hi Skhan, my vets mentioned a loud murmur each time I took my kitten for a checkup. I was so worried that when she was 12 months I took her to a specialist and had him do a scan. It cost a fair bit of money but it gave me piece of mind. He said, as others above have, that many cats have them and they live full lives. He said we could let her run and play without a problem but he did say to apprise myself of the symptoms of heart failure in cats for later in life.

Thank you all for your replies. It really reassured me knowing that I'm not the only one who is experiencing this. I just took him to the vet and she said that she cannot give me a grade of his murmur yet as he is too young. She also said that there is a chance that he could pass away as he grows into an adult. That really caught me by surprise and made me worry even more. He is such an active and happy little kitten, I would never think anything was wrong with him If I didn't take him to the vet. I'm just praying he's okay as I would be devastated if anything happened to him

Moorspede, did you get your kitten spayed? As the vet told me it would be a risk for me to get my kitten castrated as he will be under anesthetic and this could effect his heart

Vets don't like to give you false hope and prepare you for the worst. Cherish your little one and don't worry about what could happen. You can't change it and are doing the best you can. I hope your little one grows out of it.

Thank you. I have faith that he will be okay

I just read this, sorry, I could did not post earlier.. 

My guy, has a grade 4 heart murmur. While quite older than your kitty, here is what I found out..

Cats can outgrow heart murmurs.. good thing!

Cats can have murmurs which are functional.. meaning there is a small abnormality which is causing the sound, but not enough for it to cause physical symptoms.. the same as humans do..I have a heart murmur also...

My guy has a functional heart murmur. I had him checked out with an echocardiogram about 4 years ago.. I may get just another one, as in, just in case, because he is a senior now, and on medications. His internal medicine Vet has been haggling with me for a year now for one.. I may give in.. I know he is fine.. he still gets his zoomies all over the house..is alert, etc...

Wishing you the best.. please do not worry...((hugs))

Babies can also outgrow heart murmurs.

I did but it was a huge decision to make. When I was researching I came across information on non- surgical spaying. I know some of the methods are new and I don't know how safe they are or whether they are freely available. I'd discuss it with my vet. 

My Harry survived his neuter, but died of cardiac arrest post-dental surgery. You just never know.