Heart murmur in cats - Causes, symptoms and treatment

Author: Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation: 2 August 2021
Update Date: 12 May 2024
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Heart Failure in Cats - symptoms, treatment + life expectancy - Cat Health Vet Advice
Video: Heart Failure in Cats - symptoms, treatment + life expectancy - Cat Health Vet Advice

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Our little cats, although they always seem to be doing well in terms of health, can be diagnosed with a heart murmur at a routine veterinary checkup. The woodwinds can be from different degrees and types, the most serious being those that can be heard even without placing the stethoscope on the feline's chest wall.

Heart murmurs may be accompanied by severe clinical signs and may indicate a serious cardiovascular or extravascular health problem that causes those consequences in the cardiac flow responsible for the abnormal sound in the auscultation of a cardiac sound.

Continue reading this informative article by PeritoAnimal to learn about heart murmur in cats - csymptoms, symptoms and treatment.


what is a heart murmur

A heart murmur is caused by a turbulent flow within the heart or large blood vessels that come out of the heart, which causes an abnormal noise that can be detected on cardiac auscultation with a stethoscope and that can interfere with the normal sounds "lub" (opening of the aortic and pulmonary valves and closing of the atrioventricular valves) and "dup" (opening of the atrioventricular valves and closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves) during one beat.

Types of Heart Murmurs in Cats

Heart murmurs can be systolic (during ventricular contraction) or diastolic (during ventricular relaxation) and can be classified according to the following criteria in different degrees:

  • Grade I: audible in a certain area rather difficult to hear.
  • Grade II: audible quickly, but with less intensity than heart sounds.
  • Grade III: audible immediately at the same intensity as heart sounds.
  • Grade IV: audible immediately with greater intensity than heart sounds.
  • Grade V: Easily audible even when approaching the chest wall.
  • Grade VI: Very audible, even with the stethoscope away from the chest wall.

the degree of the breath it is not always related to the severity of the disease. cardiac, since some serious heart pathologies do not produce any type of murmur.


Causes of heart murmur in cats

Several disorders that affect felines can cause heart murmur in cats:

  • Anemia.
  • Lymphoma.
  • congenital heart disease, such as ventricular septal defect, persistent ductus arteriosus, or pulmonary stenosis.
  • Primary cardiomyopathy, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
  • Secondary cardiomyopathy, such as caused by hyperthyroidism or hypertension.
  • Heartworm or heart worm disease.
  • Myocarditis.
  • endomyocarditis.

Heart murmur symptoms in cats

When a heart murmur in a cat becomes symptomatic or causes clinical signs, the following symptoms may appear:

  • Lethargy.
  • Breathing difficulty.
  • Anorexia.
  • Ascites.
  • Edema.
  • Cyanosis (bluish skin and mucous membranes).
  • Vomiting.
  • Cachexia (extreme malnutrition).
  • Collapse.
  • Syncope.
  • Paresis or paralysis of limbs.
  • Cough.

When a heart murmur is detected in cats, its importance must be determined. Up to 44% of cats that apparently they are healthy they have murmurs on cardiac auscultation, either at rest or when the cat's heart rate increases.


Between 22% and 88% of this percentage of cats with murmurs without symptoms also have cardiomyopathy or congenital heart disease with a dynamic obstruction of the heart's outflow tract. For all these reasons, having regular check-ups is just as important as consult the veterinarian if you notice any of the symptoms of a cat with heart disease.

Diagnosis of heart murmur in cats

The diagnosis of a heart murmur is made through the cardiac auscultation, using a stethoscope at the site of the feline chest where the heart is located. If a sound called "galloping" is detected on auscultation because of its resemblance to the sound of a galloping horse or an arrhythmia in addition to a murmur, it is usually associated with considerable heart disease and should be investigated thoroughly. In this sense, a complete assessment should be carried out with the cat stable, that is, in cases where a cat had pleural effusion but had already drained the fluid.

In cases of murmurs, one should always perform tests to detect cardiac or extracardiac disease that has consequences on the heart, so that the following can be performed diagnostic tests:

  • Chest X-rays to assess the heart, its vessels, and its lungs.
  • Echocardiography or ultrasound of the heart, to assess the state of the cardiac chambers (atria and ventricles), the thickness of the heart wall and blood flow velocities.
  • Heart Disease Biomarkers, such as troponins or brain pro-natriuretic peptide (Pro-BNP) in cats with signs suggesting hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and echocardiography cannot be performed.
  • Blood and biochemical analysis with measurement of total T4 for the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism, especially in cats older than 7 years.
  • Tests for the detection of heartworm disease.
  • Tests to detect infectious diseases, such as serology of Toxoplasma and bordetella and blood culture.
  • Blood pressure measurement.
  • Electrocardiogram to detect arrhythmias.

Is there a test to determine the risk of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?

If the feline will be a breeder or a cat of certain breeds, genetic testing for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is advised, as it is known to derive from genetic mutations of some breeds, such as Maine Coon, Ragdoll or Siberian.

Currently, genetic tests are available in European countries to detect mutations known only to Maine Coon and Ragdoll. However, even if the test is positive, it does not indicate that you will develop the disease, but it does indicate that you have more risks.

As a likely consequence of as-yet-unidentified mutations, a cat that tests negative may also develop hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Therefore, it is recommended that the Annual echocardiography is performed in purebred cats with family predisposition to suffer from it and that they will reproduce. However, due to the high abandonment rate, we always recommend opting for cat spaying.

Treatment of heart murmur in cats

If the diseases are cardiac, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, medications for correct heart functionality and that control the symptoms of heart failure in cats, if it occurs, are essential:

  • Medicines for the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be myocardial relaxants, such as the calcium channel blocker called diltiazem, beta blockers, such as propranolol or atenolol, or anticoagulants, such as clopridrogel. In cases of heart failure, the treatment to be followed will be: diuretics, vasodilators, digitalis and drugs that act on the heart.
  • O hyperthyroidism it can cause a problem much like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, so the disease should be controlled with medications such as methimazole or carbimazole or other even more effective therapies such as radiotherapy.
  • THE hypertension it can cause left ventricular hypertrophy and congestive heart failure, although less frequently and usually does not require treatment if the increase in blood pressure is treated with medications such as amlodipine.
  • introduce yourself myocarditis or endomyocarditis, rare in cats, the chosen treatment is the antibiotics.
  • In heart diseases caused by parasites, such as heartworm or toxoplasmosis, specific treatment for these diseases must be carried out.
  • In cases of congenital diseases, surgery is the indicated treatment.

As the treatment of a cat's heart murmur depends, in large part, on the cause, it is very important to consult the veterinarian so that they can carry out a study and define the medications to be taken in these cases of heart problems in cats.

In the following video you will see when we should take a cat to the vet:

This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.

If you want to read more articles similar to Heart murmur in cats - Causes, symptoms and treatment, we recommend that you enter our Cardiovascular Diseases section.