Heart murmurs are graded on how easily they can be heard, on a scale of one to six, from quietest to loudest. Heart murmurs are classified in three ways: loudness, location, and nature. Heart Murmurs Are Classified in Different Ways The significance of a heart murmur depends on the cause of the murmur, and your veterinarian will analyse the murmur to work that out. Many causes are harmless, but some are serious and some are very serious indeed. There are multiple common causes of the turbulent blood flow that leads to a heart murmur in a cat. Now imagine a stream flowing over rocks, or a river with rapids: the turbulence or disruption of the flow of the water creates a noise. If you imagine a wide, deep river flowing by, there’s no turbulence, and no noise. This swishing, hissing sound of a heart murmur is caused by turbulent blood flow through or around the heart. It’s an abnormal sound which highlights that there is a potential problem that needs to be resolved. Instead of “lubdup, lubdup”, the vet hears “lubshdup, lubshdup”, or “lubdubshhh, lubdupshhh”. Normally, when your DVM veterinarian listens to the sound of your cat’s heart with a stethoscope, they will hear a regular, healthy heart beat, which sounds a bit like the thump of one drum after another: it’s classically described as sounding like “lub dup” with the beating sounding like “lub dup, lub dup, lub dup”, at a rate of around two or three “lub dups” every second.Ī heart murmur is a swishing, whooshing, sound that the vet can hear with the stethoscope, as an extra noise, mixed up with the heart beat. Some congenital disorders may resolve as a cat grows, or may require surgical correction. Cardiomyopathies may require medical management. Anemia or high blood pressure requires primary treatment for the resultant murmur to resolve. Some murmurs are called "innocent" and require no formal treatment. Treatment Options: Treatment depends greatly on what disease is present and to what severity.
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