Heart Murmur disappeared??

[Georgina887]

At the end of last year my cat was diagnosed with a heart murmur and the vet did an echo and she was found to be in very very early stage HCM heart disease but there was no reduction in the size of the heart chamber. No medication was required as it was so early and I was told to check again in a years time to see if there is any worsening.

She just came back from the vet for an unrelated issue and the vet says the heart murmur is no longer there.

Now at the time of her diagnosis I read about how increasing taurine can reverse early stage heart disease, so I bought powder and have been adding it to her food.

I don’t know if this is wishful thinking but could it have gone away? I know she hasn’t had another echo yet so can’t be 100% but anyone heard of this happening?

 

[fionasmom]

My Jamie has HCM and oddly, we just returned from the veterinary cardiologist a few hours ago. From what I understand, a heart murmur which is intermittent can disappear or reappear depending on circumstances. The type of cardiomyopathy which is associated with taurine deficiency is dilated. In hypertrophic, the heart walls are thickened, so it is a different cause.

Just as an aside, Jamie had been put on atenolol and plavix by his regular vet, but the cardiologist immediately took him off of both of them as his case was not that advanced and we were told to have another echo in 6 months. She mentioned that while the ultrasonographer who did the echo on Jamie is well qualified, he is not a radiologist or a cardiologist and his decision, along with the vet, that Jamie needed meds was based on his limited (not in a bad way) experience. It is great that your cat is in the early stages as well and is doing fine.

You have two really good questions about the disappearance of a heart murmur and the addition of taurine to her diet and I think that you should check with your vet to be sure. Likewise, I can't say that your baby has not recovered from her heart murmur, which would be great if she has.