Hi, I've had a cursory search but there is so much to look through I thought I would just ask, so apologies if this has been answered previously. My 7 year old Siamese cat Alfie has been diagnosed with a heart murmur at his yearly check up last month. He has no symptoms (that we can see) and is his usual cheeky self. My husband is taking the "Casual Calvin" approach of "He seems fine, I think it might be stress leave him be I don't thin he's suffering" whereas I am more cautious. We have been advised to have a scan done and go from there. Could someone advise me on what to do. I am loathed to stress him out more but if this is as serious as I suspect surely earlier the treatment the better. Can anyone help?
Thanks
Beth

Hi Beth

Whilst it is certainly the case that a percentage of cats live a normal life for years with a heart murmur, there are also numbers of cats who, after developing a heart murmur, go on to develop heart disease in mid to later life. It sounds like your vet has checked him each year and this is the first time they have picked up the murmur. This means something is changing with his heart. You are absolutely right to think that if there's a problem the earlier its picked up the better for Alfie. My advice has to be get this checked out further if you can. Heart scans are non-invasive so there's little risk to your cat in having one. There is also now a blood test that measures how hard the heart muscle is having to work. This gives an indication of the level of heart disease, if present. Suggest you discuss this with your partner and then your vet.

Cathy Wickenden BVet Med MRCVS
Barton Lodge Veterinary Centre
1 Midland Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 5BH
Tel: 01442 216048 24 hours
[www.bartonlodgevets.co.uk]