heart murmur

enthusia

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Hello,

I took my cat Maggie to the vet yesterday for a regular check up and shots. I explained that about once a month she has coughing fits that last for about a week or less. The vet said it might be heart murmur. She felt Maggie's chest and said she didn't feel anything wrong, but if i wanted to know if it was heart murmur for sure, that i would need to go to a specialist and get an EKG.

i assume that will cost me a lot of money, and i've heard that there is nothing you can do for heart murmur.

Maggie is aprox. 3-4 years old and other than this she is in tip-top shape.

What would you all do ?

Also any basic information on heart murmur would be helpful. I've read past posts here but didn't get exactly what i was after. I didn't even know what a heart murmur was until yesterday, so i really need the basics. Does stress bring on the coughing?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Cindy & Maggie
 

hell603

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A heart murmur is simply an abnormal sound accompanying the heartbeat and represents unusual or turbulent blood flow. Unusual blood flow can be caused by mechanical obstruction (leaky valves, narrowing of vessels, and abnormal heart chamber to vessel ratios), changes in blood viscosity (anemia, fever) or flow through unusual avenues (via a shunt or a ‘holeâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] in the heart). Murmurs are graded on their intensity (how loud they are on a scale from 1 to 6), their location and by which part of the heartbeat they accompany. The more intense a murmur is, the more likely it is to represent a heart problem (as opposed to an innocentâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] murmur).

Your cat should probably at least have chest x-rays - generally more affordable than an ultrasound (which gives much more info if complemented by x-rays). Remember that a murmur is a sound, not a disease. The disease (if there is one) is what is making the sound.

Personally I would go the extra mile just for my peace of mind. It is always good to know what you are dealing with.

Good luck and XOXOXOOX to your furbaby!
 

melissa

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Well, I have a heart murmur and I have coughing fits when it gets really bad, so its probably the same for your kitty. I'm going for tests, but they suspect there may be a problem with my heart thats causing the bad murmur. I think getting further tests done, like an EKG or xray would be a good idea, thats what the doctor is sending me in for. If there is an underlying heart condition they such as a structural abnormality, the xray will show it. Good luck
 
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