Cat heart health and cardiologists

Parent Cafe
1

I hope I can get some advice here from anyone who might have experienced a similar situation. I am not getting a a good answer from our vets because I assume no one wants to make the wrong call and when they tell me it is my decision is not a good answer because I am not an expert.

A couple of months ago, DH found a kitten on the road. He brought it home because, it was quite small, it was near freezing and it was certain to get hit by a car. It’s eyes were full of goop and he was a bit of a mess. We cleaned him up, fed him and took him to the Humane Society the next day. Unfortunately, they had no space and were only willing to take the kitten but they would have to turn away another that was already on the way. We felt bad and asked if they could direct us to a low cost vet so we can at least get him checked out. It turns out the kitten had a respiratory infection, eye infection and ear mites. $200 later after some medication and a leukemia test (to ensure he was negative since we have two cats at home) we took him home, asked friends and posted on FB for anyone who may want a kitten.

We had no takers . We nursed the kitten back to full health. It turns out he is the most lovable, intelligent cat we have had so far. He and our dog have become good friends and play all day long. We decided at this point, we might as well keep him. We took him to our regular vet to get him vaccinated and we got the bad news that he had what sounded like a murmur. They let us hear it and it was a swishy sound. They recommended that he get cleared by a cardiologist before they would neuter him.

So it seems we are lacking in vet cardiologists in the area and they are very expensive. No one has quoted us an exact price but it is upwards of $500 for just the echo cardiogram. We cannot afford this type of medical care on top of the regular care. Plus, if his condition is really bad, we cannot neuter him. Thus, we could not keep an un neutered cat in our household. If we give him up for adoption, I can’t imagine that he will be adopted given the cost to care for a cat like that and the problems an un neutered cat comes with. If we take the chance and neuter him without knowing the medical condition, he may not survive the anesthesia. So we are caught up in a bit of a catch 22.

I have read that some of these cats with heart issues have very short lives, 2-3 years,while others live 10-15 years but medical care is expensive. That said, he is very energetic, very robust and has a very good appetite. He does not have the symptoms that are often described with the condition. We think he currently is about 4-5 months old.

Any ideas, recommendations, experiences will be helpful and in helping us figuring out what to do. We will talk to the vet this week as well but from the initial talk, it did not seem as though there were very many options.

2

I guess that I don’t have advice, but I wanted to share that this is similar to something I went through with my dog late last year. She had really bad breath. When I took her to the vet for what I assumed would be a “yes, she has bad breath, she needs to have her teeth cleaned,” they did say that but also found that she had lost a lot of weight and had a heart murmur. The vet pushed the echocardiogram, which cost at least $350. I gave in and had it done. Lo and behold, the murmur is normal, the dog is fine (the weight loss was because I was feeding her less, because the vet had said in the spring that she was fat!), and I am out what I consider to be an unnecessary $350.

3

Do you have a vet school nearby? That may be a good place to start. I have taken my dogs to the University of Wisconsin vet school before as they have all sorts of specialists.

4

I’m so sorry about this. You’ve been heroes and now this. Is there a cat only vet in your area? Maybe contact the Humane Society for recommendations? If nothing else, I’d get a second opinion from a different vet. Here’s the thing. If the cat can’t be neutered, you can’t keep him. If you can’t keep him, you surrender her and you risk the cat being put down. My aim would be to find a vet willing to neuter him even if that creates a greater risk. Maybe the goal is to find a vet who can use a lighter or different anesthesia or one who has done this procedure on a cat like this.

If this helps, we had a cat with a heart murmur. It was brought to my attention by a fancy emergency vet hospital when we brought her in for a bee sting. I followed up with my regular vet who was not alarmed and told me it was not uncommon. Her condition may have been a lot less serious than your kitten’s, I don’t know. It seemed to manifest itself at different points throughout her life. Sometimes they couldn’t hear it at all, sometimes they’d tell me it was pronounced. We never took her to a cardiologist. That cat lived a very active life for 19 years.

5

You should ask about various types of anesthetics to use to neuter this kitten–there is not just one. Some have more risk than others. I once had 2 cat litterbrothers neutered on my kitchen table by a newly-minted veterinary friend who used an injectable anesthetic (can’t remember what it was), the cats were both wide awake within a half hour (they were 6 months old). Also, you can ask the vet practice if they would neuter the kitten anyway and have you sign a release if something goes wrong that you won’t hold them responsible. Neutering a male cat is a very quick procedure and they don’t have to be anesthetized for long. OR, you could go to another regular veterinary practice and see if they’ll neuter him.

I know that with puppies, it is not unusual to have a heart murmur, even a pretty severe murmur, when they are young that goes away as they grow up. I bred dogs for many years and occasionally ran into this, but I’m not sure if that’s the case with cats as well.

Good luck with whatever you decide–I hope you are able to keep the kitten after rescuing him and making him better.

6

Thank you. This is all good advice. I already have more ideas from all of you then I have from the vets. I am sure they have to push for the cardio so we don’t hold them responsible if anything goes wrong.

Cornell has a school near us and I will try to find out more about this. Great idea. DH and I were also wondering if they can do a local anesthetic. I will certainly ask.

@3girls, you summed it up right. if the cat cannot be neutered, we cannot keep him and we are afraid if we surrender him, he will live forever in a shelter or be put down.

7

No new advice. I just want to say that I admire your care and concern for the cat. Good luck!

8

Cornell vet school is top notch; i hope you will be able to get some good advice there. Neutering is not as traumatic as spaying, and the recovery is usually much, much quicker. I hope the little guy will be ok. You are a very caring “pet mom”. :slight_smile:
I wonder if Zeuterin is used in cats…

9

First let me say your cat found angels when you rescued him.

I agree with the advice above that you know you have to neuter him, so that’s a given. If the surgery damages him more, that’s an issue of timing more than anything, since he already has the condition. Ithe electrocardipgram is only diagnostic, not curative, so if they turned up anything you’d be faced with a decision to have surgery or not. I personally don’t believe in lots of painful surgery for pets. Surgery is hard enough on humans who understand what’s happening.

I would neuter him, but do nothing more other than routine annual care. If he does well, terrific. If he doesn’t, then it’s a timing issue that’s beyond your control, since the anesthetic would not be creating, only be hurrying along, the underlying problem.

Since the cat is so intelligent amd loving, I think that’s the message that the cat belongs with you. God bless.

10

Our cat had cardiomyopathy which presented as a heart murmur. She was a rescue cat also. We did not have the means to do expensive surgeries for her, but we provided her with tons of love and of course basic care. Her heart problems started to get worse when she was about 8 years old (estimate since she was rescued). We gave her baby asprin and Atenolol prescribed by her vet. She wasn’t suffering, just became more sedentary in general. Unfortunately, she also had gum problems and an ear tumor which advanced, and couldn’t really be treated because of her heart troubles, and we eventually had to make the decision when the pain outweighed her quality of life.

She was the best cat, and we miss her every day. Give your kitty lots of love and a happy home and that’s far more than he would have had without you!

Also, about the neutering, there is a type of anesthesia which is easier on them, and as long as they monitor the cat it should be ok. My cat had to have a tooth extracted and she made it through just fine.

11

We notice this with our older cats. The vets suggest a cardio workup due to age before any procedures involving anesthesia, such as teeth cleaning. We have declined as it doubles the cost (and we have four cats). We simply sign that we have declined the pre-surgery workup. We have had no problems - thankfully - but even if we did I don’t think I’d second guess the decision. Our cats have all been strays that we’ve nurtured. ($250 for teeth cleaning - okay - but another $250 on top of that - no.)

I think your kitten has its home. Taking him to a shelter sounds as heart-unhealthy as anesthesia. So my opinion: you have to neuter the kitten. You want to do it as safely as possible but have to draw the expense line somewhere. Work with your vets - or find others - who can perform the surgery as safely as possible for your baby. As others have said, the surgery can be done quickly and easily. I can’t help but think that caution on the vets’ part plays into the recommendation for cardiac evaluation - certainly a question that can be asked.

Please keep us updated. I’ll know I’ll think of your kitty and want to know what happens. I hope that whatever you decide turns out exactly as you want.

12

My sister (a real cat expert) went through this exact same thing with a cat. Unfortunately, he did die suddenly at 9. The Atenolol is very inexpensive. She says you should go ahead with the neutering if the vet will do it. Her cat came through it fine. She said the echo should not be quite that expensive. It would at least tell you how severe the problem is. She did one echo but didn’t repeat it because the treatment would not have been any different.

13

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. I feel a lot better now and have some good questions to ask the vet later today. This kitty has brought a lot of smiles to everyone in our family. Even our nephew who is afraid of cats picked him up and cuddled him for a while. It was so amazing, my SIL took a picture to send to his grandma because she could not believe it. I will keep everyone posted and hopefully everything will turn out well.

14

We are going through this right now. We have two rescue cats, both from the same litter. They are 12 years old. One has had a heart murmur since birth, and we have to pay $400 per year for the echo and cardiology consultation. Each year, it is unchanged. His brother, however, was recently diagnosed with a murmur and the vet warned us about sudden cardiac death, so we went ahead and had his echo done as well. The cardiologist said it was minor, but recommended another one in 6 months. I think we’re going to go ahead with it. Even if it is perfectly stable, I don’t consider the money a waste. Ruling out something is just as important as finding out he has a condition that must be treated. And if he’s in danger of suddenly dying, I’d like to have a heads up on that.

We also live near a vet school (Tufts) and they have a very good hospital, Angell Memorial. I think this helps keep prices in line. When one of our cats developed hyperthyroidism, he had to be treated with radioactive iodine. We only had to pay for the treatment and one week in the hospital (not cheap), but they kept him in the hospital for two additional weeks at no charge until his poo was no longer radioactive.

15

I also wanted to echo what @Momof WildChild said above, the Atenolol is super inexpensive, like $5 for 6 months (it is actually a people blood pressure med). So after you have a diagnosis, the treatment itself isn’t expensive.