Heart Murmur In Cats Grade 2
Because for a grade two in a young cat, my understanding is the vet would just want you to bring kitty back after a month or so, to see if the level of the murmur has changed at all.
Heart murmur in cats grade 2. The grading is on a scale. We take our kittens to kansas state university and most all litters have at least one kitten with a grade 1 or 2 heart murmur. The grade 3 has an intermediate loudness, while the grade 4.
A level 1 murmur is a subtle sound, while a 6 is so loud you can actually feel the murmur with your bare hand. Mild, moderate or severe, and whether or not it is resulting in heart enlargement. In cats, heart murmurs are usually best evaluated with an echocardiogram.
If your vet hears a heart murmur the first thing they will do is determine the grade of the heart murmur. A heart murmur may be described as systolic or diastolic. I then took her to a cardiologist who told me he couldn´t perform the echo because she was too restless, but just from hearing her heart he said she only has a few months to live.
What is the significance of a heart murmur? According to claws and paws veterinary hospital, a veterinarian listening to a cat's chest with her stethoscope can barely hear the grade 1 murmur but clearly makes out the grade 2. Grade 3 is usually heard by the vet immediately when the examination of the heart begins.
Some normal adult cats may have an intermittent heart murmur that shows up when their heart rate is increased due to stress. Grade 5 projects the loudest murmur. In addition, a murmur is described by the stage of the heartbeat when the murmur is heard.
A heart murmur can indicate a disease of the heart muscle called cardiomyopathy, which is the most commonly acquired heart disease in cats, says bliss. In some cats, heart murmurs appear and eventually disappear. “studies suggest that 30 to 50 percent of cats with a murmur have structural heart disease ( 1 ),” she says.