OT Calling all Cat People re: shop cat

My beloved 7 year old shop cat went to the vet yesterday.The vet told us that she had heard a heart murmur, and it was a class 1 of 6, 1 being the mildest.
This has never shown up before. The little guy is very active and acts like he feels great. The vet recommended having an ultrasound done and possibly puting him on a heart medicine (a Beta-blocker)The test is going to cost 300-400$ and even if they find something, there is really no treatment other than a medicine (which patients tell me makes them feel like c$%p.)
The vet tells me that the cat could either die suddenly or live a normal life span, depending upon the type and cause of the murmur.
I am kind of looking at this as unneccessary due to the fact that the cat has no symptoms at all and most sources tell me that this can be produced by stress. (Pretend you are a cat: Someone puts you in a crate and takes you to the vet where a strange person takes your temp and gives you shots while a dog barks loudly in the background... think you would be stressed?)
I dont want to neglect the little fella..he has been a loyal companion since he was a tiny kitten, but I dont want to suject him to tests that may or may not be any good.
Opinions?

No way in he$$ I'd spend that kinda money for something it likely doesn't even need.
I don't even spend it on myself !

I have hauled enough cats into vets to agree with you on how STRESSFULL it is on them and me !
Most don't like it at all.

I tend to get very attached to my barn cats.

I try to give them the shot early on - distemper and maybe it covers a few other things.

After that they have the run of the place, get some food esp over winter and a warmer barn to winter in, and are free to make it on their own. I don't like to get deep into medicating or treating them for chronic stuff. Doesn't seem fair to them or me, really.....

Exceptions, of course. We had a 1 year old male come dragging his tail home on a cord, beautiful big healthy cat, that woulda infected and killed him in a bad way. We chased down the medical path, and by the time we were done was over $400 to clean up his stub and get him proper shots for them to work on him, etc.

Over the next decade he took on the ditch route, and cleaned up the gopher (ground squirrels) along my field, saving me 600 feet of 2-3 rows of corn they always destroyed. So. He earned me back more than the $400... He disappeared a year ago, and I already saw a little damage show up on that field..... Hope to get another of the cats interested in that route. It's good hunting.

Me, I'd consider him being a cat and have a good life with what he has, and let him be. Happy without the medication. Won't fault anyone for choosing a different route with you cat. Always tough when they go, for whatever the reason.

Paul

Bill, we've had multiple cats over the years - -in fact, I have one at the Vet's now to have teeth cleaned and treat an abcessed canine tooth.
A few years ago, my wife had a very favorite female cat which was also diagnosed with a heart murmur - she did quite well without medicine, died at 14 years old from old age - kidney failure - intestinal blockage.

I'd hold off a little while and see how the cat does. If the murmur worsens, the annual vet visit & checkup may see the difference.
Would the proposed medicine prevent the possibility of a VERY unfortunate sudden death?

I really do think most Vets are very caring folks, but often propose all the possible tests in an effort to be as thorough as possible.

Best Wishes!
John

Leave him be!Are you ready to 'fight' with him every day to give his pill? the vet is just after more money....After all,he's 7,he's an outdoor/shop cat,and he's a CAT.He's already lived longer than most...He could get hit/killed or 'eaten'(coyotes love cat 'meat') tomorrow. We have a cat with a similar health issue.We did the no drug/wait and see thing,19 years later she is still with us.Just love him and enjoy him for as long as he is here.

I would not invest that in an animal, just enjoy him while he is here.

We had a really fine Appaloosa Hunter/ Jumper horse- strong, athletic 7 year old horse who won frequently over fences. Had an offer to purchase on condition the horse would vet...and wouldn't you know it, vet detected a heart murmor just like you cats. Deal was off.
Now this horse never exhibited any stress- vet tries to tell us to put the horse down, we decline...then says the horse shouldn't be ridden, could drop dead at any moment putting a rider at risk- seen plenty do that before, as have my girls, they ain't worried. Prescribes super expensive injections.
So, I ask the wife and kids: "what would we do if this vet, who we didn't even want to like at our horse, had never told us any of this?"
All agreed= we keep on loving it, riding it, and probably winning on . We competed on that horse for 6 more years- he loved to run and jump, and never showed any extraordinary signs of fatigue or duress. Won regularly, had several other offers to purchase, told 'em up front the horse wouldn't vet, had several different vets tell us just what the first did. he ultimately died at 18 years of age. Just found him dead in the feild one morning, no fuss. Let that cat do what it wants- it will stick with you.

We had the nicest stray show up a couple of years ago. I've never seen a cat so starved and close to death. He has adopted us and keeps away all of the other strays and plays nice with the cats that were here before him. He's kind of like a dog following me around and talking to me

Gene went to the vet once to make sure he didn't have something that would kill all of the other animals and then no more. He's happy as a lark and will hopefully live a long life. Did I mention how he shredded all of the skin off of my arm getting him to the vet that one time? That was proof that he only needed to go once. He's in the good Lord's hands from here on out.

i hit Mrs 730's cat O.T.(long name Orange Tom) with my truck i took him to the vet. we were told he would have to be a house cat after that as he had some nerve damage that was okay with Mrs 730 and the cat as he liked being in house.
to make long story short he got pneumonia and died at the vet clinic.
your cat looks like our bob cat i have to watch where I'm walking when outside as he likes to get between my feet

If you're giving him a comfortable home, feeding him well, and paying attention to him - you've given him a happy life.

Think that's about all you can do for a cat.

If by some slight chance he dies from it, he'd die happy.

It'd be different if he was walking around in pain.

I say leave him be. The stress of feeding him medication for the rest of his life will make him miserable!

My 6 yr old english setter has a heart murmmer. Vet said don't hunt himj. He's the first dog I put down and the last one in the box. That's what he was born to do and that is why I got him. He'll die a much happier dog, and I will never regret that day because of all the memories he's already made.

Thanks for all of the kind words and great advice.We have decided tht our treatment plan is going to be just to have him checked every year, keep up his shots and spoil the heck out of him.
He got to sleep in the house last night...
We have a female cat(see photo) his age (both are fixed)
My wife says they are like an old married couple and are rarely very far away from each other.
My son gave them both to us . His GF at the time helped rescue them from a cat lady that had hoarded cats and had over 200 cats and small kittens living in her house in terrible conditions.
They have both been blessed!

I'd say unnecessary. How many people have pets who have some sort of internal problem you never find out about? Lots, I bet.

I'll also bet this cat lives a long life unless there is an accident or something. Or maybe he does die suddenly one day, which will be sad, but people get over it.

As a veterinarian Id tell you to take him home and carry on as usual. Ive been practicing for a number of years and it seems like they teach a lot of things at Veterinary School nowadays but one of them is not common sense.
I hear heart murmurs occasionally; I mention them to the owner knowing that they can be a common finding/no threat but advise the owner to watch for things like decreased activity/exercise intolerance, breathing changes, increased coughing, etc. If your buddy is acting fine, eating well, and getting around without any problems then Id do nothing more than have the murmur rechecked at 6-12 month intervals.

The phrase "cats have nine lives" is around for a reason. . . cats are tough critters and live good lives with all sorts of things youd never know about.
Nothing wrong with your vet offering the services of further diagnostics (ultrasound) but the suggestion should come with the understanding that the tests will likely come out normal.

I have not seen your cat but that is my nickels worth of advice, hope it gives a little piece of mind.

Dave DVM 10+ years.

Several years ago a cute little calico kitten showed up at my doorstep, having chosen my house as the place where she wanted to be fed and cared for. My daughter agreed with the cat's choice. (Dam!)

Some months later we came home and found the cat in distress, unable to control her back legs. Vet said she had apparently been hit by a car---crushed pelvis. He did what he could, and she became ambulatory again. Cost: $600+. He said she should be spayed when she recovered more.

Fast forward several months: cat is PG. On July 4 came home and again found her in distress. Emergency C-section; crushed pelvis prevented normal delivery. Cost (emergency, holiday): $1,300+. These were hard-times dollars, not petty cash.

Cat recovers. Three months later, my $2000 cat disappears, never to be seen again.

Is there a moral or a lesson here? Somewhere, I suppose.

My big tom Named Tom was diabetic. Getting stuff lined up for taxes and ran across the bills. Heck of a good cat but wasn"t faster than a car. Damned expensive too.

I have been a DVM practicing for 40 years in Michigan and fully agree with your comments and often these cats do very well without treatment and live to a ripe old age.

Another Dave DVM 40 years

Every time we took the dog to the Vet, he said,
allergies! We"ve never done anything. I once
told the vet,"you"re going to put your kids
through college on "Pet allergies", aren"t you ?"
"That"s about right", he said !

We have 10 barn cats. I feed them faithfully, and one occasionally disappears, but then a new batch comes along to bring the number back up. Unless you keep them inside, the hawks and owls and coyotes will be after them. I'd rather feed a coyote a $2 cat than a $100 cat. I agree with you - leave the poor thing alone.

Your story about stress at the vet clinic is true. The local vet comes around to each town (firehouse in our town) for rabies vaccinations. An older couple that I knew asked the vet to come out to their van to give their cat his shot. I was just leaving with my two dogs when I saw the old guy putting on a pair of welding gloves, so I stuck around to watch. That cat clawed that poor guy plumb to the top of his head, and the last we saw of him, he was crossing the railroad tracks a block away in a dead hard run. Last I heard they never got him back. They should have left that cat at home.

Thanks to both of you Docs!
Tucker is quite an athlete, he never acts tired and appears to do everything a cat should.
I would be willing to bet that both of you are large-animal or food animal vets.
You have a much more practical point of view that some of the small animal docs.
In defense of our vet: she is a very caring and compassionate vet, a very nice person and we are glad to be able to use her. In todays legal climate (being in the medical/dental field) I know that you have to inform everyone of everything, and thats what she did.
Best thing is that my cat is oblivious to it all.
I'm 58. He could very possibly outlive me. One never knows.

Who was running acrossed the RR tracks-The cat or the OLD MAN??????????

let the cat live out his life without extroridinary measures, especially when they might not do any good. Millions of other pound cats need a home and will be killed if none are found.


OT, Story in Readers digest.
A teen age girl is feeling a bit off and goes to the medicine cabinet to get the thermometer and check her temperature.
Mom sees this a little late and says "Oh no dear, that is the dogs thermometer".
Teen age girl says " EWWWH, you mean this was in Doobies mouth" ??" Mom says Well, not exactly dear".

Sounds like your vet was trained in a high income suburban area. We live in a rural area of Virginia and used what I call a real farm vet. Well we went to a suburban vet for our bassets hip problem. Recommendation, a doggy shrink. Back to the country doc. and a few pills later he was fine.

guys, cats have nine lives.......

Had a very similar story, but lucky for me it was only $300.00 before it left. Guess I'm lucky after all.

I have two that were born with heart murmurs. That was about five years ago. Live indoors and are just fine. I have another one that has a two mm. hole in one side of his heart and a growth in the other chamber that is taking up half of the chamber. Colorado State Vet. School told me they could do a twenty five thousand dollar operation on his heart but couldn't guarantee me that he would survive the operation. Three years ago they called me and wanted to do a free, six thousand dollar radiation test, on him. Involved injecting some kind of radioactive substance in his blood stream. I suppose it would have helped some other cat in the future with the same problem as his but I declined, I didn't want to put him thru the stress and there is nothing they can do for him anyway. He is on Atenolol twice a day to slow his heart down. Been like that for over five years and you wouldn't know he has a problem. He will play and when he gets tired he will rest. Just had his yearly checkup three weeks ago.

Outdoor cats or barn cats have extremely variable lifespans. I have had them live to be more than 10 years old and I have had them not live to see their first birthday. We have had cats hit on the road, shot by neighbors (and I use the term loosely!), taken by coyotes and birds of prey, a few that got sick and died and a bunch that just disappeared without any trace. It has been my experience that the female cats I am able to locate and tame as small kittens, and who never see a vet at all are the ones that seem to last the best. I have not had good luck with unaltered tomcats, as they tend to fight with other tomcats and end up so torn up I have to put them out of their misery. Over the years I have had several tomcats castrated and only one of them had a lifespan of more than about 3 years. The female cats I had spayed have been among the cats that disappeared fairly soon afterward.

Where I live, you make a choice of having outdoor cats or having mice that sooner or later get in all the buildings. I choose having cats, and usually have a couple of mama cats, since it seems like mama cats are the most efficient hunters. Of course, having unspayed female cats means that there are usually at least a couple of litters a year. If I can find the kittens when they are very young, the kittens can be tamed and I have had success in giving the nice kittens away. When I cannot find the kittens until their mother can no longer feed them, and bring them to the cat dish, the kittens are wild and impossible to tame, or even catch without a fight. I have had to destroy wild kittens and young cats a number of times.

Cats that are always indoors are different. They often live much longer lives than their outdoor relatives. Maybe it makes sense to take an indoor cat to the vet regularly. But we do not choose to have cats inside our house.

There have been several cats over the years that became real good pets for me. They demonstrated that they really liked me by following me around acting like they wanted attention, which they received. But most of the barn cats are not all that friendly. Since most of the cats do not survive too long, I try not to get too attached to them. I always feed them and appreciate the fact that I don"t have much of a problem with rodents around the buildings.

But considering their usual short lifespans, I do not spend much money with vet care for my cats. Taking barn cats to the vet for almost anything has seemed to me to be a waste of my money.

I would enjoy the cat, if he is a good companion and friend, until he passes, but I would not spend money at the vet to try to prolong his life. When he dies, I would get another cat or kitten and hope the new one is as good as the previous one. Good luck!

If you can, find a new vet. A heart murmur, class 1 is a minor problem. We have 2 cats that are 17 and 18 years old with murmurs that our vet says are OK without medication. They both are active and doing just fine.

Hi
you know one day he might not greet you at the shop door so thats not gonna be a surprise. if he is happy and not suffering leave him alone and see what happens. if he starts to suffer then you have to make the decision there and then what happens.
Shop cats are a rare tough breed. I have one in my shop. For some reason he got named Pi$$er!. He was one of 3 kittens the runt i guess. My girlfriend adopted the other 2 and took them to town life.
Mine stayed in the shop and we thought he would not make it. he's the smallest cat in there. some days he's sneezing and wheezing. But go in there with food and he's the first there before the lids off the can, and the first on the tractor hood by the muffler when I park it after chores lol. He has that shop cat survivor thing like 20 lives I guess.
The 2 that went to town have cost a few bucks in vet bills and are the biggest healthy looking from the 3.
good luck to you and your little buddy.
Regards Robert