RE: Heart Murmur

[Hideyo Yamamoto]

Rebecca – did you find out the grade level of his hear murmur – My Hannibal has a low grade heart murmur – level 2 – but I needed to have my vet pull his tooth (he couldn’t eat and was miserable) and he was anesthetized – and everything went ok –   I agree with Tamara, it’s strictly your decision.  I have one FeLk kitty, Ginger, I have not spayed yet because of the same concern.  She is very fragile, and want to make sure when I spay her, I will run a blood work for her total body function, and make sure that she is not too anemic (which she has been) and all her organ is working fine.  I did have my the other Felk kitty, Tsubomi spayed recently… mainly I thought she was pregnant,, but she is much stronger than Ginger too, she is completely healthy, her HCT was over 40 and I am very grateful of her strength.   Rebecca, you really don’t need to decide whether you should neuter him or not right now.. it’s probably more questions of “when” – you can take your time and think about it,, and when you do it, make sure that he is in the perfect condition and make sure to run a blood work and and see if his heart murmur has gone down or vice versa – and ask your vet not to use anything but ISO gas anesthesia and no injectables at all – you would be amazed difference between recovery when you only use ISO gas.. and also injectable sedatives can cause more complications.. so I never use any injectable at all – and ask them to monitor his heart rate all the time, and have them give him fluid during surgery.. and ask your vet to do a surgery on his first and if he lets you wait, wait during the surgery, and as soon as he wakes up from anesthesia, bring him home so that he won’t have to be stressed in a cage at the vet…..again if and when you decide to neuter him..I by no means encouraging you to do so right now.   Usually, vets are usually more optimistic when coming to neutering (since it’s very quick procedure), so if your vet is concerned, if I were you, I would probably wait for a few months to see how he does --- I lost my Suzi right after the spaying surgery.. all I know is that it was never losing her life, and that’s probably why I am so hesitant to do a surgery for my Ginger.... I knew I would have eventually done when Suzi was a bit older or stronger.. but I did not wait – so I am regretting it and will regret for the rest of my life.   You sound like such a good mommy, Rebecca --- it’s not like he is pregnant (duhh..).. so really, there is no reason to rush.. dr. addie in University of Glasgow advised to me once, with any immune compromised animals, you will want to postpone neutering/spaying as long as possible.. not only due to a risk of anesthesia, stress can trigger the very illness that they may not showing any symptoms for and sometimes, we and other vets underestimate their emotional stress due to a surgery..       From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of tamara stickler Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 7:27 AM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: Heart Murmur   Heart murmurs can develop at any stage of life, but, should be seriously monitored and treated if it continues to get worse.  My Quintapus was diagnosed with a heart murmur only after he had a bit of a heart attack at age 2.  I took him to a cariologist and it turned out he had cardiomyopathy (hardening of the heart).  Dr. gave him meds and an estimate of approx. 3 yrs. of life left.  Quintie just died last March at the ripe age of 12.  With medication and proper monitoring heart murmurs can be controled.   As for the neuturing...if Wowie doesn't go outside at all (nor try to get out), and all your other animals are fixed....its strickly your decision. You know your cat best.  Don't let someone else bully you into making a decision you aren't comfortable with...because if something should (not that it will) go wrong, you'll have difficulty forgiving yourself.    FYI, Quint did have dentals during his life which require "putting him out" and he did fine, even with the heart murmur and renal failure.  (It was a blood clot that finally did him in.) veggiepugs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Well I took Wowie (Brooklyn) to the vet today for his eye infection, which I am now treating, and the dr said to me "He's not neutered!!" I said well, last I was here, I was told he was at more risk under anesthesia being FeLV+ so I am hesitant. Asked me if he was an indoor cat I said yes, he said his urine must stink. Actually, I said, he is very good with the litterbox and I keep it clean so, no. Like as if that's more important than his risks under anesthesia. THEN he tells me, "He has a heart murmur". So i say out loud "Even MORE of a reason for me not to put him under!!!" Am I wrong not to neuter him? He's strictly indoor. Am I putting him at risk for more illness? Or am I playing it safe? So, now he has a heart murmur and I'm wondering why they didn't catch this OR the fact that they told me today that he has gingivitis, at his last visit a month and a half ago. They looked in his mouth and listened to his heart so what the heck? Dr says I need to have him get an echocardiogram. Said the murmur and the eye infection AND the gingivitis could be secondary to felv. I'm worried. But wowie is still happy and doing well, any words of advice/guidance? I have to start brushing his teeth too. Thanks Rebecca   Bring words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail.