Is Catnip Bad For Cats With Heart Murmur

It simply means the heart is making unusual sounds that could indicate an abnormality.

Is catnip bad for cats with heart murmur. Most sources of information about catnip don t say anything about the herb doing harm to cats with heart murmurs. The only way to determine if there is any disease within the heart itself that may be causing the murmur is to perform a detailed ultrasound examination of the heart. An adult cat with a murmur might also have disease of the heart muscle called cardiomyopathy. The most common type of cardiomyopathy in cats is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is characterized by thickening of the heart muscle.

Older cats may occasionally develop soft heart murmurs too due to anemia fever or other systemic illness. There s nothing mysterious about a heart murmur. A feline heart murmur is usually detected during the course of a routine exam when the vet listens to your cat s heart using a stethoscope. The most common type of cardiomyopathy in cats is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy characterized by thickening of the heart muscle.

The grade of murmur does not necessarily mean heart disease is more or less severe or even present. On the other hand dr. Heart murmurs are graded 1 6 with 1 being of the least concern and 6 being of the most concern. A cat with a heart murmur may grow weak and lose its appetite if an underlying illness is untreated leading to other forms of sickness that cause further problems.

The prognosis depends on the cause of the heart murmur. The loudness of the murmur depends on where the muscle thickens. Your vet may suggest that you take your cat to. Depending on the type and stage of the heart disease the risk and required medical attention will vary.

This is completely painless and is normally performed in a fully conscious cat. That prevents the muscle from fully relaxing thus limiting the amount of blood the heart can pump. In some cases sudden death can occur too. Shelby neely of ask the cat doctor says she doesn t give catnip to one of her cats because he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or hcm for short a kind of heart disease.

If your vet determines that your cat has a heart murmur you. Often if the cat is well and the heart murmur is unchanged periodic examination will be recommended. Cats protection will only refer a cat to a specialist if classed as grade 5 or 6.