Heart Murmur Life Expectancy

My kitty Johnny has had a heart murmur all his life. When he was a kitten it was diagnosed as a "4". All his life, it has pretty much stayed the same. (I dont know how bad a 4 is. I dont know if its out of 5, out of 10, or out of 100 or something.)

Anyways, he's coming up on his 6th birthday in March. He's an indoor cat. Generally healthy. Definitely not underweight, but not fat. Just a big, strong, thick cat. The last time I went to the vet, she said that he had a heart murmur because his heart was enlarged - twice the size it should be.

I was wondering, how long can I expect him to live? I'm not sure that if this type of mumur will just cause him to be lazy, or if it reduces his lifespan a lot.

Currently, I spend about half the week (every week) away from home. When I'm away all I do is worry that something will happen when I'm gone. I just want to know if there IS a need to worry, say if he's only expected to live 7 years. Or if he's already past the expected lifespan. Or if he really is only going to be lazy, but end up living 12 years, or whatever.

Thanks for reading all this, and any kind of input anyone has. <3

My cat Arthur has a bad heart murmur, he is about 7 years old, and very healthy, my vet said as long as he doesn't get out of breath and is generally fairly active then he suspects that he was born with it and has had to cope with it. I was told that his life expectancy would be no different to a cat without a heart murmur. So I am sure he will be fine

Originally Posted by EmmaG

My cat Arthur has a bad heart murmur, he is about 7 years old, and very healthy, my vet said as long as he doesn't get out of breath and is generally fairly active then he suspects that he was born with it and has had to cope with it. I was told that his life expectancy would be no different to a cat without a heart murmur. So I am sure he will be fine

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That makes me so happy!!

But one thing...aren't there different reasons for heart murmurs? Would different reasons cause different lifespans?

And about him being active. He doesnt go outside, and he as a small studio apartment to roam around in. Once in a while (not often) he does do a little spaz thing, running back and forth. But it's not like I sprinkle catnip on him, and he just lays there. Would that make a difference either?

Yes, there are different cause of heart murmurs, and depending on the cause does affect the lifespan. We were taught in school the defination of a heart murmur is an extra heart sound. It may be as simple as one of the valves is allowing blood to flow back instead of foward (regurgitaion), and it depends on how much blood is flowing back, or a valve could be working completely out of wack and not sending enough oxygenated blood where it needs to go, or the valve could not be working at all. which valve is causing the problems also makes a difference. If you are really concerned and finances permist you can always have tests done to determine how bad it is.

Yes there are different reasons for heart murmurs, just as Petnurse explained, I was also told that cats can get a heart condition that thickens the heart and if this is detected early enough then this can be controlled with drugs.

My cat had an ultrasound scan to determine the cause which I believe was a faulty valve.

I can hear my cats heart murmur if I put my head on his chest, it sounds like a "whooshing" noise.

Well my cat goes outside and generally runs around the garden and also up one of our trees

Your cat sounds as if he is fine, perhaps just make sure you get a yearly checkup and get him to the vets if you notice any great change in his behaviour.

Try not to worry too much and if in doubt get him to the vets.

Cats are like people...we never know how long they have on this earth. My big orange tabby (he was both thick and fat) had a heart murmur for most if not all of his life. He was fairly active some of the time and lazy plenty often too. We had 12 wonderful years with him. A couple of months after his 12th birthday, he died very suddenly of a heart attack or stroke. He didn't suffer in the least, and he was active and happy right up until it happened. Kitties can live normal lives with heart murmurs, and we never know what will take them in the end.