# My poor Tony... has a really bad heart murmur. =( My husband took him to the vet today to get his 3rd set of shots and to see if he could get declawed (he went a month ago and said she was worried about his heart murmur, but to come back for his last set of shots and she would she if it still sounded the same.) We… ## Thread In General · started by jmaxwell · 13 replies - **Category:** [General](https://nihonken.org/community/c/general) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## jmaxwell · 2008-05-06T20:24:45.000Z has a really bad heart murmur. =( My husband took him to the vet today to get his 3rd set of shots and to see if he could get declawed (he went a month ago and said she was worried about his heart murmur, but to come back for his last set of shots and she would she if it still sounded the same.) Well, I guess today his heart murmur is worse than last time so she wont do a declaw, which is fine I would never put him under know he has a higher risk of not coming out. My husband said she sounds pretty concerned about it and now im kind of freaking out. She said there is a place that specializes in heart murmurs and they can perform surgeries and non surgeries to "correct" it or make it better I guess, but in Detroit (which is 2 hrs away) and I dont know how much it costs. She is going to call them and find out and call me tommorow and let me know. Do any of your guys's cats/dogs have heart murmurs? And if so, to what extent? Should I be concerned and freaked out or am I over reacting? ## _dlroberts · 2008-05-06T22:39:49.000Z I think scarlet had a terrier with a heart murmur that she had treated at a teaching hospital. They were able to control it using drugs. I hope he's ok. I'm not a cat person, but Tony looks like a little lover. Keep us posted. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-05-06T23:30:20.000Z Oh Jamie! I'm so sorry - my friend has a persian cat that has a heart murmur that she controls with daily medication.. i'm not sure what med, I'll ask her and let you know the name/dose/side effects. Poor Tony! **It is a grade 3 murmur and she gives him Atenolol 6.25MG/ML and Benazepril 1MG/ML which seems to keep the murmur in check for the last 4 years. ## kwyld · 2008-05-07T15:14:36.000Z Jamie, I work at that place that you are talking about. We have two board certified cardiologists here, Dr. Becker and Dr. Riepe. The consultation is $105, and the echocardiogram is $270. Like I said the last time you posted about Tony's murmur, you don't want to let heart murmurs get worse without checking them out because there can be a lot of things going on with his heart other than just the murmur than can be life threatening. I don't want to scare you, but I see this stuff every day, I'm just being honest. If it were my pet I would book an appointment just so you can see what is really going on with him. And also, I would book it with Dr. Riepe, she is a very nice, down to earth doctor. Here is the link to our facility: http://www.ovrs.com/content/home.php Just click on the cardiology link and you can learn about heart disease in animals and Dr. Riepe's bio. You can even ask for me when you call, I can help you book the appointment. You could bring Kenji if you want and I can bring Kohji and Taj to work that day so we can meet each other!! It would probably be too much to bring all of your guys, but you could bring Keira and Kangai too for moral support. ## ivanmeza03 · 2008-05-07T16:12:32.000Z i found this on internet, i hope this help for something..... "A heart murmur is not a disease; it is a sound that the doctor hears with a stethoscope. It may be normal, or it could be a sign that something may be wrong. Most heart murmurs are harmless. Some are signs of heart problems, especially if other signs or symptoms of a heart problem are present." ## sujewel · 2008-05-08T00:31:07.000Z Awe. Poor Tony. He's so beautiful!! I don't have any info. Just wanted to say I'm thinking warm thoughts for Tony. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-05-08T00:35:17.000Z *hugs* for Tony, I'm sorry to hear that. ## jmaxwell · 2008-05-08T10:25:52.000Z Kelly - I might have to take you up on that offer. I will call for a conceltation and see when he can get in. That would be fun for Kenji and Kohji to meet. They would LOVE each other. As for the other two rugs rats, that might get a little out of hand....hmmm. Which office do you work at? My vet said they had three offices down in that area. To everyone else - Thanks for being supportive and for the kind words. It sucks when your vet is telling you you need to go when I keep thinking "ohh it cant be that bad, can it?" and then I realize that it would be selfish to think of it like that. It is no differnt than it I had a sick child and refused to take him to the doctor. I guess I just didnt think it was all that serious, but when they recommend you to go to a specialist, than she probably knows what shes talking about. Keira also has a heart murmur but they never told me to take her anywhere for it, they just said to watch it as she gets older and such, so thats why I didnt think it was really a big deal. The sad thing is hes not even a year old yet so I dont want to lose him because I didnt take him to get checked out by a professional. He has MANY years to live yet still. Ill let you all know what they say! ## kwyld · 2008-05-08T11:13:03.000Z The number to our place is 248-334-6877. It's open 24 hrs, so you can call anytime to book an appointment, but Dr. Riepe is only there Tuesday through Friday for apointments. She sees consults between 9 and 2:30 usually and Wednesday night she does a late consult at 6pm. Dr. Becker seems nice and very competant but he just started working there and I don't know him that well. You will be there for 2 hrs max for the consult and Dr. Riepe will go over the echo results with you right then and there and what the future treatment plan will be. Most of the time they just put your pet on medication to manage whatever condition it has. I would be able to meet you on a Tuesday or Wednesday because I only work Sunday through Wednesday, but that would be cool to bring Kenji. They wouldn't be able to really meet and greet thoguh because Kohji is dog reactive : (. When Kohji was a puppy he had a murmur that he grew out of, maybe your vet thinks Keira will too that's why she hasn't said for her to see a cardiologist. I would ask your vet just to be sure though. I think your vet is thinking about Michigan Veterinary Specialists, but I wouldn't go there, their prices are higher than ours and their customer service is not so great. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-05-08T11:19:46.000Z Best of luck with getting Tony the treatment he needs. ## _dlroberts · 2008-05-08T13:01:47.000Z Ditto to what Brandon said. ## scarlet · 2008-05-08T20:39:49.000Z I did have a child with a heart murmur, or 'enlarged heart'. His ashes sit in my china cabinet, beforehand on my TV with his picture for 3.5 years. I loved Bandit, of all the dogs I had grown up with, Bandit was mine in his heart making it so, all 6 lbs of him! He was a typical fiesty terrier-mix who I had to control after the diganosis -- put up a privacy fence, kept him away from things/people that upset him. I discovered the health issues when he literally collapsed in my backyard and when he came to he didn't know me for at least 60 seconds-- I suppose no oxygen to the brain. His local vet wasn't helping and I was referred to the University of Athens where the vets stabilized him and gave us another 2.5 years. He was on 4 heart meds twice a day. He was too cute when I'd say 'it's time to take our medicine' and he would settle and allow me to shove it down his throat. I will always be thankful to the university for giving me the maximum time with Bandit, the puppy who stole my heart like a bandit thief and impacted my life. Bandit can never be replaced, but I have found that The Jake Man occupies a space in my heart that wasn't filled by Bandit, a place that was meant for Jake. Oooo... I get emotional, but add how thankful I am for God's gift of animal and man's best friend that he gave to us. O.K... off the soap...... ## tobyshiba · 2008-05-09T00:55:32.000Z Aww, i'm sorry to hear about your cat. D: I am curious about the declawing, though. Declawing is a very painful procedure which removes part of the cat's knuckle and pretty much scars them for life. I refuse to declaw my cat just because I find it so cruel to even remove the claws in the first place. They have them for a reason. :) If you remove part of the knuckle, it gets rid of scent glands in the paws and instead of marking territory with their paws, they will mark their scent with pee, and have many other problems. So, not only for fear of the surgery, but the pain in the end could put extra strain and stress on the body + heart and make matters worse. :( Good luck finding and deciding on what to do, its a hard decision to make. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)