Low Grade Heart Murmur-8 Week old Kitten

Hello. I took my 8 week old kitten to the vet yesterday for the first time and was told he has a heart murmur which was between a 1-2 on the scale. I was very concerned when I heard this. However the vet said that it wasn't something to worry about and that it would just be something to note on my kitten's chart and to monitor. He is very active (climbing up the curtains and all the normal kitten stuff) and has no other medical problems. Can you please provide me with any additional information on this since my vet unfortunately did not. Should I get further testing done, or wait to see if it goes away as he gets older? I am also concerned if he will be able to be neutered or not. If it is a serious heart problem what is his life expectancy?
Thank you.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

It is probably an innocent murmur of no medical significance, if your vet said it was nothing to worry about.  Please don't worry about it until your cat is at least 6 months old, at the time of neutering.  Innocent murmur's can disappear as a cat gets older.  If the murmur is still there at the time of neutering than an ECG and echocardiogram can be performed.  Neutering should not be a problem.

It does not sound serious.  Heart murmurs are graded from 1 to 6 and your cat's is only a 1 or a 2.  If the murmur stays at a grade 1 or 2 (or hopefully disappears) than there is only slight risk for heart disease, but it is something that should be monitored.