Grade 5 heart murmur in kitten.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi and thanks so much for your question.

A grade 5 heart murmur is usually a cause for concern and it is definitely a good idea to have the cardiologist assess Joel. They will likely do an ultrasound on the heart to determine how serious the problem is.

Some kittens can be born with what is called either an innocent murmur or a juvenile murmur which will go away within a few months. However, these murmurs are usually a grade 1 or 2. We usually grade the murmurs on a scale of 1-6, so a 5 is unlikely to be an innocent murmur.

With that being said, it is quite unlikely that there will be any problem with vaccinating Joel. The only reason I would say to wait on vaccines is if Joel is visibly sick - not eating, difficulty breathing, poor weight gain. If this is the case then it is possible that he is in heart failure and we would not want to stress his body out by giving vaccines. But if he seems bright and alert and is eating well, then he should be fine to vaccinate.

There's definitely no reason to wait to vaccinate the other 5 kittens.

I really hope the little guy is ok!

Dr. Marie.

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