Pawsitive thoughts for Fattycat's heart scan tomorrow.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I totally panicked when the vet said the scan wasn’t actually till next week so got her booked to a independent cardiologist tomorrow. (One who doesn’t charge extra just to stay with her!) I may be clutching at straws but I think the fluid in her lungs may be due to fluid overload during her dental. As she’s just Too well and respiratory rate is normal. But please keep all your paws crossed for my darling girl.

Well how could you not love ‘em - they’re adorable.

Any of their fans who are ever in my neck of the woods. (East Midlands) are welcome to pay homage in person!

I’ll put Baron Harry in his basket and pay the lovely girls a visit!

Here he is looking cool for his date!

Ok I might have to keep him! He’s so scrummy!

The cardiologist phoned last week and I asked if I should have Magic scanned as well. She said it was a good idea. She suggested seeing if the insurance will pay for it. However they will only pay if she’s got symptoms, which she hadn’t. She does not have a heart murmur and her respiratory rate has always been lower that Maia’s. I’m reluctant to fork out yet more money. So do you think it’s reasonable not to persue it at the minute. Obviously if I’m at all concerned I would.

I don’t know. If she were found to have a problem, what would happen, then?

Then I would treat her, I very much doubt she’s got a problem. She has no murmur. But it will always niggle at the back of my mind now. I’ve already spent £500 on their dentals and Maia’s insurance excess, etc (may have to pay more for going with a cardiologist not on their list) I just can’t justify spending any more money. The minute she shows any symptoms I will obviously have it done.

I think you’re doing the right thing. You know her and you know what to look out for.

I think you'd be more likely to spot any early warning signs having gone through it once already - if she has no murmur it seems very reasonable to "watch and wait".

Fair enough. (And you know her well.)

If it’s any help we had the (suspected - long story) littermate of our cat ultrasound scanned at our usual vet. She wasn’t sedated and cost under £60 IIRC.

The trouble is timtam that’s a good approach with most illnesses but HCM is one where seemingly healthy cats can just drop dead completely out the blue. It’s the same horrible condition that you hear of apparently healthy young people dying from.

My own - seemingly robustly healthy boy - dropped dead at 8. I assume it was HCM. (We didn’t have a necropsy.)

Trouble is also, Ms, that what would a screening then achieve - going by your argument.

I suppose with a view to observing sub-clinical signs cozie such as a slight thickening of the heart in the early stages.

All I can say is my vet recommended screening our cats littermate and he is usually very conservative in his approach. Definitely not frivolous.

If it was only £60 I would do it, but it's over £300. I just can't justify spending that money after spending £500 on getting their teeth done. If she had a murmur I would t hesitate, but then the insurance would cover it. I'm reluctant to go looking for problems when she's completely asymptomatic.

I'm suprised to see that Fatty has become much more dominant again. She was when I first got them, but Snorg came into her own after she was poorly. Anfbit was about equal. Fatty must have not been feeling great.

Of course we love them. I follow cats on here and worry about them as I would my own. If there has been no suggestion of a heart murmur so far, I would save your money. You get them checked and treated regularly, they have both had health issues involving vet admissions recently. If she had heart problems too, it would be identified by now.

I would save your money too if she is asymptotic and has no murmur. After all this dropping dead talk here I’m glad I’m fitted with a just in case defibrillator! My Dad dropped dead at 37 of HOCM.

My cats are snuggled up on the bed with me at the moment and purring. Little do they know they are off to the cattery later this morning for the first time ever! I’m not
looking forward to leaving them there!!

Snorg has just been cuddled up with me. They are also going to the cattery today. I said I'd never put them in one. But because of fatty's jaw last spring I booked them into one. They were fine and the cattery is run by a vet. It's lovely. They are going into their 'playpen', it has a fish tank and loads of climbing stuff. Which they won't appreciate at all!

Sounds nicer than mine which asked me if I wanted to pay an extra pound a night for a heat lamp! Here is one now. Should I cancel the holiday? My usual pet sitter couldn’t do this next week.

Do what you think is best but even if you change your mind in the new year your local vet can do a scan of the heart and take measurements to check all looks normal. As it happens my cats HCM and heart failure was all completely diagnosed and treated by my local vet. Would have been happy to go to a specialist (having already spent thousands at one earlier in the year!) but there turned out to be no need.

Sorry to hear about your dad Ruhr
Your cat is gorgeous, very unusual colouring.

Ruhr. That's is one gorgeous cat. My local vet brings in a cardiologist from outside. Because of the delay in getting an appointment with her, I panicked and went to another specialist. Very glad I did, as I object to having to pay £185 to stay with her!

My cat sitter was also unavailable so my parents were coming to check on them. But they can't tell them apart and Fatty needs medication twice a day. And they live 25 miles away so not fair to ask them to do it.

My cat was diagnosed with cardio myopathy last Christmas after suffering with a blood clot in her front paw. She is on aspirin and benazacare. I was really worried about giving her daily medication but have found that if I cut the pills and put them in a ball of cheddar (Cornish cruncher is her favourite), she will wolf them down!