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seventheThe news on Marzy's heart is both bad and hopeful.
Technical version: he has hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.
His heart murmur is real, and it's disease-related rather than "functional" (the kind a cat can just live with). Basically, one of his heart valves isn't working correctly. Because of this, his heart is overworking, which means the muscle is thicker than usual (a bad sign). This thickening has pulled one of his valves into the wrong position. It doesn't close properly (causing the murmur), and it also gets into a weird position when open, blocking a lot of bloodflow in his heart.
The hopeful news is that often, blockages like this can be helped with medicine. The meds can help calm his heart down, which will both thin the walls AND help that valve "reset" itself to the right position. So today, Marzy has started beta blockers. LOL.
He'll go back in two weeks for another evaluation, during which they'll check his response and possibly re-titrate his dose. And if nothing has happened... we'll discuss further options. But the doctor seemed moderately hopeful that the valve would respond to the meds, so I am too.
We caught this early. He's only 1yr 4mo, and the doctor said that she doesn't see any signs of the chambers of his heart actually enlarging (a really bad sign). If he responds to the pills, chances are he's going to be okay. ♥
He'll be on the drug for life. He takes a dose twice a day. I'm not yet sure what this means for me - can I still travel? Can I go somewhere overnight? Is he going to be okay? Am I going to have to pay for a pet-sitter every time I want to go to Pittsburgh? Do I have to take him into a vet for overnight? Is it going to cost me hundreds of dollars just to see my family?
But these things aren't worth worrying about right now. All I'm focused on is making my poor kitty better.
Technical version: he has hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.
His heart murmur is real, and it's disease-related rather than "functional" (the kind a cat can just live with). Basically, one of his heart valves isn't working correctly. Because of this, his heart is overworking, which means the muscle is thicker than usual (a bad sign). This thickening has pulled one of his valves into the wrong position. It doesn't close properly (causing the murmur), and it also gets into a weird position when open, blocking a lot of bloodflow in his heart.
The hopeful news is that often, blockages like this can be helped with medicine. The meds can help calm his heart down, which will both thin the walls AND help that valve "reset" itself to the right position. So today, Marzy has started beta blockers. LOL.
He'll go back in two weeks for another evaluation, during which they'll check his response and possibly re-titrate his dose. And if nothing has happened... we'll discuss further options. But the doctor seemed moderately hopeful that the valve would respond to the meds, so I am too.
We caught this early. He's only 1yr 4mo, and the doctor said that she doesn't see any signs of the chambers of his heart actually enlarging (a really bad sign). If he responds to the pills, chances are he's going to be okay. ♥
He'll be on the drug for life. He takes a dose twice a day. I'm not yet sure what this means for me - can I still travel? Can I go somewhere overnight? Is he going to be okay? Am I going to have to pay for a pet-sitter every time I want to go to Pittsburgh? Do I have to take him into a vet for overnight? Is it going to cost me hundreds of dollars just to see my family?
But these things aren't worth worrying about right now. All I'm focused on is making my poor kitty better.
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 05:14 am (UTC)One option for petsitting is to see if one of the vet techs can do it. A good friend had some special needs cats and travelled a lot for her job, and for not much money at all she contracted with one of the techs who worked for her vet to come in every day that she was gone and give her cats fluids. She built up a great relationship with them, and it worked out very well.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 07:49 am (UTC)You're not a bad kittymommy.
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Date: 2010-12-07 11:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-07 05:51 pm (UTC)<3<3<3 We'll get him better!!
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Date: 2010-12-08 01:21 am (UTC)And, if need be, I checked. There's a PetSmart up by you in North Olmstead with a PetSHotel for boarding, if you ever need it. They take cats & do meds 3x a day. Your vet should also be able to provide you with boarding, though the hotel may be less expensive, honestly.
Cheer up, love. He's in good hands<3
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Date: 2010-12-16 10:51 am (UTC)provides access
Date: 2011-01-17 12:23 am (UTC)