Is Catnip Bad For Cats With Heart Murmur

They re scary conditions but your animal loving vet can come up with a treatment plan.

Is catnip bad for cats with heart murmur. Shelby neely of ask the cat doctor says she doesn t give catnip to one of her cats because he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or hcm for short a kind of heart disease. Catnip has been proven to be safe for cats although excessive amounts may result to a short spell of diarrhea. A lowered heart rate is a sign that the cat may be getting weaker and nearing death. Many cats with heart murmurs will live long happy healthy lives and never need any treatment for their heart disease.

For instance an extracardiac condition may be present when the cat has a fever or infection though it may occur in cats that are pregnant obese or emaciated as well. A cat s heart murmur may also be linked to extracardiac conditions or conditions outside the heart. A healthy cat s heart rate is between 140 and 220 beats per minute bpm. People used to use catnip to brew tea to soothe upset stomachs.

A very sick or weak cat s heart rate may drop to a fraction of the normal rate indicating death could be near. On the other hand dr. That s because similar things cause them to rear their ugly heads and kidney failure itself often triggers heart murmurs. Absolutely cats really enjoy this safe non addictive herb from the mint family.

A good physical examination will include auscultation where your doctor will listen to your cat s heart with a stethoscope. John rush and when we detect one we grade its severity on a scale from one to six with six being the most serious grade 1. Like a kitty and her catnip kidney failure and heart murmurs seem to go hand in hand. It is a reason to have a discussion about heart disease and what it may mean for your kitty.

Catnip doesn t affect people the way it does cats though. It s found to be neither toxic nor addictive so you can freely use it as a reward or training aid. Effects only lasts 5 to 15 minutes. Most sources of information about catnip don t say anything about the herb doing harm to cats with heart murmurs.

Cats are frequently diagnosed with heart murmurs however hearing a murmur during a physical exam is no reason to panic. Feline heart murmur levels of severity heart murmurs are relatively common in cats says dr. Older cats may occasionally develop soft heart murmurs too due to anemia fever or other systemic illness. The most common type of cardiomyopathy in cats is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is characterized by thickening of the heart muscle.

A swishing sound can be heard when listening with a stethoscope to the heart of a complacent cat for at least. Your vet will be searching for normal heart rhythm a murmur or an arrhythmia if an arrhythmia or murmur is heard it may be an indication of heart disease such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.