Savannah Cat Chat - THE Place for Savannah Cat Talk

Welcome to the Savannah Cat Chat Forum! Our forum has been in existence since 2012 and is the only one of its kind. We were here, serving the savannah cat community before Facebook and Instagram! Register for a free account today to become a member! Please use an email program other than Hotmail, since Hotmail accounts are blacklisted by many servers and ISP's. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site in some of the forums by adding your own topics and posts. But in order to take advantage of the full features, such as a private inbox as well as connect with other members ad access some of the larger topics, a donation of $2.99/mo or $25/yr is requested. This will allow us to continue running this forum!

Heart Murmur

Sierra

Savannah Teenager
My poor baby went to the vet today to get dewormed and the vet discovered a heart murmur in the left side of his heart. She said it's a stage 3 possibly a stage 4. Might take him to a cardiologist. Any advice in how to deal with this? What should I tell the breeder? He could have this for the rest of his life and die young from a congestive heart failure. The breeder assured me he was healthy and had taken him to a vet.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
How old is your "baby"? If still a kitten there is a good chance he will grow out of it, but it is a significant murmur so I do advise you take him to a board certified cardiologist vet. If within reach of Los Angeles, I highly recommend Dr Sarah Miller.

Murmurs are very very very easy to miss. They also can vary visit to visit. A noisy vet clinic makes it almost impossible to hear, a purring or meowing kitten makes it difficult too. My vet takes kittens backstage and finds a quiet corner... and finds a running tap sometimes helps to distract them from purring while listening too!

I've had both ends of this scenario. My first SV was an F2 boy that was 18 months old before his murmur was heard and he was already in congestive heart failure. He'd been to the vet five times without it being heard (both the breeder and my vet). We got him properly diagnosed (another story but the reason I mention it being important that it is a board certified cardiologist) and stabilized and he completely outlived their expectations and lasted until over 12 years of age when lymphoma caught up with him.

The other side is a kitten born here. At his first visit to the vet at 9 weeks of age, they heard a grade III murmur. It was too young to really diagnose but ultrasound showed a lot of turbulence (which causes the sound of the murmur) which was either a significant valve defect or a hole between the chambers that potentially could close over with growth. It was hard to believe he was ill, he was huge and just kept growing at a high rate. We monitored him and by 6 month of age the murmur was basically undetectable and ultrasound looked great. I waited until he was a year old and took him down to LA to Dr Miller. Besides the fact that he has a large heart (she says it is because he is a very large cat) and a very slow heartbeat she says it is one of the healthiest hearts she's ever seen. Whatever caused the murmur when young had resolved.

I think you need to inform the breeder, but not in a way that lays blame. It's completely believable that they thought the kitten was healthy and that the vet had found the kitten healthy. So saying that, if the kitten/cat ends up being diagnosed by a cardiologist with a significant defect/disease, then that doesn't mean that the health/genetic guarantee isn't valid here.

Finding out what is wrong sooner is best though. When it comes to heart disease, many conditions are very manageable with medications so your kitten/cat can still have a great quality of life for years with you.
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
Brigitte has covered everything very well. I have also had kittens with heart murmurs that have completely grown out of it. It is important to know how old your kitten is, because if he is under six months old an echocardiogram (the gold standard for diagnosing the cause of a murmur) will be less accurate because the heart is so small and beating so fast. So I would recommend that if he is under six months and completely asymptomatic you consider holding off on an echo until he is closer to that age. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go to a cardiologist though, especially if that is what your vet has recommended - alway a good idea to get established with a practice as soon as possible.
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
So as Patti says, wait until after 6 months of age. Take back to your regular vet at that age and see what the status of the murmur is... it may well have reduced in seriousness. Still...I would advise getting the echo done for peace of mind.
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
I agree, unless the murmur has completely resolved at the next visit (which is highly unlikely in less than a month's time) I would get the echo.
 

Wyldthingz

Savannah Super Cat
I just had to deal with this with one of my own kittens that I sold. With this kitten I sold, the vet thought it was significant and I agreed to pay for a cardio visit to diagnose it. As it turns out the kitten had a hole in his heart that did not close at birth as it should have. It is called a PDA. He had a very expensive surgery to fix it. Without that fix, he would never have even reached adulthood. The owners are lovely and wanted to keep him regardless. There are insignificant murmurs but I think it may be a good idea to know what it is.
 
Top