References and Notes

Great site with information as to normal vs abnormal sounds for the heart (follow the links on the left)
Count how many beats (2 consecutive sounds count as 1 heartbeat) per 15 seconds times 4 to get beats per minute. Cats' resting heart rate has quite a range. In the 140-180 range is typically okay (check with your vet to be sure). Trikki's normal resting rate is 160, and has always been, but at the vet's it's scary high.

If your cat's purring too much, you can put him up on the counter or turn on the faucet or you can make a noise a bit outside his range of sight so it arouses his curiosity. That'll make him stop purring enough to listen to his heart. I had to do this with Boo Boo because he had a neat loud purr and was a lovebug.  Trikki OTOH doesn't purr; he's too annoyed when he's being messed with (which he defines very loosely)!

The above site also has info on lungs:
http://www.med.ucla.edu/wilkes/lungintro.htm
You can hear there how there's a sort of crackling or even what can be characterized as popping sound if there is fluid build-up.

Etienne Côté , DVM, DACVIM Ann Marie Manning , DVM, DACVECC Dawn Emerson ? Nancy J. Laste , DVM, DACVIM Rebecca L. Malakoff , DVM Neil K. Harpster , VMD, DACVIM, Assessment of the prevalence of heart murmurs in overtly healthy cats, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, August 1, 2004, Vol. 225, No. 3, Pages 384-388
"Heart murmurs were detected in 22 of the 103 (21%) cats. Echocardiography was performed in 7 of those 22 cats. The echocardiogram was considered normal in 1 cat; in the other 6 cats, diagnoses included hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(interventricular septal hypertrophic form [IVSH]; n = 4), left ventricularconcentric hypertrophy with valvular disease (1), and equivocal IVSH (1)."

Babble alert: In the above study they found murmurs to be quite common in “overtly healthy cats”. I plan to get the full-text version at some point (too many articles to read, too little time). Until then, just spitballing here - it does make one wonder what results would be for the 15 cats with murmurs that didn't have ECGs. Will also have to wait to find out on what basis these 7 were tested (maybe higher grade murmur or x-ray results) because had they tested them as well and results similar, it would be a scary statistic - might almost 1/5th of cats have “latent” heart disease? Given how it's all inter-related - kidney failure, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, etc. makes one wonder about how even without outward symptoms, HCM in cats is causing/affecting other diseases.

Natto articles:

A 2003 paper with basic info on Natto's actions

Purification and characterization of a fibrinolytic enzyme produced by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens DC-4 screened from douchi, a traditional Chinese soybean food

A newer (2008) review of various clinical studies e.g. on Natto's beneficial effect on hypertension and ability to break up fibrin clots:

A Comprehensive Scientific Review of Nattokinase

Natto allergy cautions:

A case of "late-onset" anaphylaxis caused by fermented soybeans; Natto

Late-onset anaphylaxis after ingestion of Bacillus Subtilis-fermented soybeans (Natto): clinical review of 7 patients.