Lymphoma peeps? question for a friend?

My friends civie, who had no heart murmur/issues, now has a heart murmur, and the vet is blaming the pred and or Leukeran, not clear what from the phone message she left me. Anyone have this happen after giving these meds? thanks

 

Hi Lisa

Pred and other steroids can exacerbate existing heart disease in cats. Is your friend's cat having trouble breathing? Steroids cannot create a heart murmur on their own, the situation is more complicated. I would say the most likely thing is that the cat has always had a source of heart murmur and it was just not previously heard. Unlike dogs, cats often have dynamic heart murmurs: the intensity of the murmur correlates to the heart rate. This means that the murmur can sound louder or softer based on how high the heart rate is.

In any kitty with a new murmur you also want to know: T4 level, BP, hematocrit/PCV. In a lymphoma cat on chemo, I'd want to be sure this cat was not anemic. They should also do a chest x-ray. They should have a set already, from before starting cancer treatment, and they can compare to see if the heart is bigger now.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks Jess, I was googling also.. This was at the oncologists that they heard the murmur, so our reg vet clinic never heard the murmur, but what you said makes total sense that she always had a murmur and the pred made it worse. She isnt having trouble breathing but the vet thought there was fluid buildup. She didnt mention xrays..but I will ask. Shes going for cardiac u/s on Saturday. I have to tell her that, shes thinking the pred caused the murmur.. vet called it a soft murmur.