Is a Grade 2 heart murmur serious?
Heart Murmur Grade Heart murmurs in dogs are graded on a scale of one to six. Grade I murmurs are the least serious and are barely detectable with a stethoscope. Grade II murmurs are soft, but your veterinarian can hear them with the help of a stethoscope.
What is a Grade 2 murmur?
GRADES. Systolic murmurs are graded on a six-point scale. A grade 1 murmur is barely audible, a grade 2 murmur is louder and a grade 3 murmur is loud but not accompanied by a thrill. A grade 4 murmur is loud and associated with a palpable thrill.
How long can a cat live with a Grade 2 heart murmur?
In most cases, the disease will continue to progress over time and heart function will become compromised. Cats that develop heart failure have a guarded prognosis and survival times are usually estimated to be 12 to 18 months after diagnosis.
What does a murmur indicate?
The “murmur” is the sound of blood flowing. It may be passing through an abnormal heart valve, for instance. Or it may be that a condition makes your heart beat faster and forces your heart to handle more blood quicker than normal.
What is typical of a Grade II heart murmur?
A grade 2 murmur is faint, but is immediately audible. Grade 3 refers to a murmur that is moderately loud, and grade 4 to a murmur that is very loud. A grade 5 murmur is extremely loud and is audible with one edge of the stethoscope touching the chest wall.
What causes a split S2?
A split S2 is a finding upon auscultation of the S2 heart sound. It is caused when the closure of the aortic valve (A2) and the closure of the pulmonary valve (P2) are not synchronized during inspiration.
Can a cat heart murmur be caused by stress?
Some normal adult cats may have an intermittent heart murmur that shows up when their heart rate is increased due to stress. This type of physiologic murmur disappears when the heart rate is normal, and has no impact on the cat’s health.
Is a heart murmur life threatening?
Many heart murmurs aren’t life-threatening and don’t need treatment. But other heart murmurs do need treatment because they’re a sign of an underlying problem with your heart. It’s important to remember that if you’ve been diagnosed with a heart murmur, that doesn’t mean you’ll always have it.