Comfortis - Heart Murmur
klemisah
16 years ago
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spiritual_gardner
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoklemisah
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Heart or Lung problems??
Comments (5)Congestive Heart Failure-CHF- Physiologically,the heart and lungs are tied together for function.There are two types-at least in people- I can tell you about people, and sometimes it is quite the same in dogs, but I am just giving you an overview. There is systolic-where the heart does not pump well enough, diastolic- whhere the heart does not relax enough to let the chamber fill with blood. Blood carries oxygen- so if the cardiac blood supply is not enough, there isn't enough oxygen in the lungs to make a gas exchange. There is right sided and left sided heart failure. If it is left sided(the most important side), then fluid builds up in the lungs- making someone cough. When the fluid buildup is behind the ight ventricle, the leg swell. There are different levels-I to IV. There are good drugs to treat dogs- some are the same as for people.As a body gets older, sometimes the heart is just not as effective- don't dispair. Is the dog free of heartworm? That also causes shortness of breath and coughing. If he has bad teeth, it is soo very important to have them cleaned- in both people and dogs-probably other species, too- clean teeth are important for a healthy heart! Bacteria gets under the gums in a dirty mouth that has less than optimum gums. The bacteria then gets into the bllodstream, where it then settles in the heart- causing the heart tissue to get infected. I am glad you are getting him to the vet to find out- if it is an enlarged heart/CHF, depending on the level, there are good drugs that make a big difference. Good luck with your pup....See MoreHeart Murmur in Cat
Comments (6)I agree with everything sylviatexas said! Two years ago when I had my one cat to a regional veterinary collage/animal hospital to be seen by specialists (three days spent at the hospital there!) to help diagnose a GI disorder, this 11 year old cat suddenly had a murmur for the first time while a patient at the hospital! They did an echocardiogram because they had to before they would anesthetize him for an upper GI scope, and the echocardiogram showed nothing was wrong! The vet there (a vet cardiac specialist) said that it is not unusual at all for cats to suddenly get a murmur when they are really stressed out! He said, in those instances, the murmur is really stress related and goes away when the stress does! I too would be very reluctant to stress any cat out any more with further tests since this murmur was something new and seems to have a definite cause and effect! I really question your vet's judgement on this and sometimes it seems some vets, like some doctors, will go strictly "by the book" without considering common sense factors. All I know is, our poor pets just don't know what is going on and are scared to death when we take them in to be treated, and unless I feel it is for their good and absolutely necessary, I can't see doing something purely for the sake of being someone's "science project"....See MoreMy Henry has a heart murmur
Comments (14)Well we went to the Specialist yesterday - and not so good news. :( Henry's heart is quite enlarged, enought so it may be touching the trachea and causing him to cough. At this point I bust out crying and was barely able to talk. He didn't have any fluid - yet - but I gather that will happen soon enough and he will go into congestive heart failure. When I started asking about times - he said "Well he could have 2-3 years of a relativley good life, or something can happen in 6 mos - I just can't tell you." I have a strong feeling it will be shorter than longer - just by the way he said "I'm sorry." He put him on a trial of Enalapril - 1 a day for 4 weeks - to see if he gets more energy. But when Henry woke up this morning, he coughed, which he has never done except after his walks. So if he is coughing by this evening, I will notify the Dr since that is one of the things to watch out for. I am just sick over this - even though I had a feeling things were getting bad. I think 9 yrs old is just too young - he just loves life too much! Has anyone had any dealings with this medication? I know have to take it one day at a time and make sure he enjoys every day - and I will, he deserves it. Thanks for listening and for your prayers for Henry....See Moreheart mumour
Comments (7)Hi cat mom, got your email, thanks. There are such things as innocent murmurs, where we can't find a cause. But without doing an echocardiogram there is no way to tell if the murmur is innocent or not. Cats tend to get certain diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which can cause murmurs. This disease gets progressively worse and may eventually lead to heart failure. It can be treated though. Of course, it's impossible to treat a disease if you don't know it's there. There is no way to tell just by listening if there is a cause for the murmur or not. Many cats with HCM are stable for a long time, and their murmur doesn't get louder even though the disease is progressing. For some reason, cats get the short end of the veterinary stick. The AVMA just published the updated Pet Demographic Sourcebook and found that cats are less likely to see a vet, and people are less likely to spend as much money on a cat as a dog. In fact, the number of cats seeing vets just once a year has DECREASED while the number of cats as pets has INCREASED. I think that some vets are unintentionally supporting this trend by not recommending the same high quality of care as they would a dog, assuming people wouldn't do it anyway. Which of course is wrong. Also since your kitty doesn't seem to have any clinical signs of heart disease, sometimes vets don't recommend finding out what the murmur is. I don't think it is wrong to not investigate a murmur that isn't causing a problem, but I do think it is wrong for the vet to not offer it to you, especially since it could be caused by a treatable disease. Listening just isn't enough. IMHO of course!...See Moredobesrule
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