Heart Murmurs in Dogs and Cats

Heart murmurs are most likely to be detected during your pet's routine health check at your local veterinary practice. But what does it mean for them to have a heart murmur, and what are the options?
This animation explains how early detection of a heart murmur can be crucial to your pet's health, and how a cardiology specialist would evaluate, treat and monitor your pet's heart depending on the type and severity of the murmur.
Please feel free to share this video with your friends and colleagues.
Head to theralph.vet to find out more about our Cardiology Service.
Take care,
Team Ralph 🐾

[@xinyenlui5357]

Helpful and Easy to understand. TQ!

[@theralphvet]

Thanks for the positivity! Glad it was useful.

[@pienutbutter..]

My cat developed it half a year ago at the shelter, possibly from the stress. Getting a check up today. This video massively helped me understand what is going on and what might be the course of action if it has gotten worse. Thanks!

[@theralphvet]

Really glad you found the video helpful. Hope your little one is doing ok!

[@TheVetzzang]

wonderful video

[@theralphvet]

Thanks for the great feedback!

[@SamuelM.-iz1un]

My 9 months kitten was just diagnosed with a mumur. Can the kitten outgrow this? Around what age?

[@theralphvet]

Hello, thank you for your comment/question, hope your little one is doing ok! Ideally your kitten would need an echocardiogram to determine the cause and significance of the murmur. We can't really say whether they might "outgrow this" unless we first exclude pathological causes. Hope that helps. Take care, Team Ralph 🐾

[@kevinrichards8119]

Heart scans are expensive £500 plus . After your pet gets one,it’s not going to make your pet better,it’s a lot of money for the same outcome...serious murmurs can be detected by stethoscope auscultation,by any competent vet..Remember,before the days of pet echocardiography,all murmurs were diagnosed by auscultation...it’s an expensive way of telling “yes,your pet has a murmur “,yet another rip off service from your vet !😡

[@theralphvet]

Hi Kevin, the purpose of the echocardiogram is to determine the cause of the murmur and treatment options, not just to say "yes your pet has a murmur". Some heart conditions can be fully treated with the correct treatment plan, allowing pets to live a longer, healthier life that they may otherwise not have been able to. Please let us know if you need any further clarification. Have a lovely day, Team Ralph 🐾