Sandy, did your vet tell you what grade the heart murmur is? The Sphynx rescue list I am also on gets on the topic of heart murmurs periodically (I suppose it's a risk of the breed), most of the cats on that list with murmurs are doing really good though. You hear more about bad heart problems in Maine Coon cats, but you said your cat is a little black kitty (I assume short haired), so it's probably not due to heredity (though there is a slight hereditary risk in American and British Shorthairs). There are medications they can prescribe for it if it is a severe enough murmur. I don't think there's anything different about a murmur in a FELV+ cat than in a negative cat.
Here are a few good websites on heart murmurs in cats (and things to watch out for, and some resources for finding a specialist or cardiac veterinary program): http://dsl.org/hcm/ http://www.holisticat.com/hcm.html http://www.portlandvetspecialists.com/library/heartdisease4.html http://www.sphynxbc.org/cardo.htm http://old.bsava.com/vcs/testing/menu.htm http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/cardio/ Jenn http://ucat.us http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Adopt a cat from Little Cheetah (UCAT) Cat Rescue: http://ucat.us/adopt.html PLEASE DONATE TO THE TANGLE FUND: Tangle is a cat in Greece that was severely injured when someone wrapped wire around his neck to strangle him, Little Cheetah Cat Rescue is raising funds to bring Tangle to Vermont to find him a good home! http://ucat.us/tangle-fund.html DONATE: We could really use a power saw (for construction), a digital camera (for pictures), and more towels! -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.1/327 - Release Date: 4/28/2006
