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The State of the Cat
May. 28th, 2013 08:16 pmBack in April, I mentioned that the vet had detected a heart murmur in Talisker, and recommended an ultrasound scan.
So today I put him in the car and drove the Royal Dick Vet School, ten miles away. (Dick was a bloke, I think.) I had a long chat with the Professor of Catology - sorry, Cardiology who explained all sorts of stuff, and was very good, I thought, though the vet had said the same stuff in about two minutes. He listened to Talisker's heart, said that there was a minor murmur, and talked about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a thickening of the (muscle) wall of the heart. It is not uncommon in male cats, and there isn't much that one can do about it - there is no pre-emptive medication or cure. It may have no effect on the cat (any cat, that is) at all, or it might lead to the cat having further heart problems, including a heart attack, at which point you can treat those symptoms, but again there is nothing you can really do.
I left Talisker and drove back into Edinburgh, getting stuck in some absurd traffic jams; the city centre seemed to have ground to a stand-still.
Two hours later I was heading back through even bigger traffic jams (leading to a detour around Arthur's Seat...) to the Dick Vet, where Prof Cat explained that whilst there was slight thickening in part of the heart - around the valves - it was so minor as to barely count as HMC, and that frankly I shouldn't worry about it at all - unless Talisker started to show other symptoms (such as breathlessness, increased heart-rate, or unsteadiness on his legs). He would right to the vet to tell them to keep an ear open to any changes in the heart murmur, and if so, do another scan.
But, basically, nothing to worry about (until there is something to worry about!).
He also said that he thought Talisker was a big cat - which he then qualified to long, as Talisker stretched out on the examination table. So, no longer "littlecat Talisker", then.
For reasons I don't understand (and forgot to ask), the standard instructions from the Dick Vet were that cats shouldn't be fed the night before an examination. Talisker was most put out that no food was put out. He woke me at 4am demanding food; two hours later, when he realised that I wasn't going to give him any food, he became awfully cute, snuggling up to me as I dozed.
Since we got back from the cat hospital, he has eaten some food and has been very subdued, sleeping. he also has a bald patch, where he was shaved so they could do the scan. I guess it has been a stressful day for alittle cat.
So today I put him in the car and drove the Royal Dick Vet School, ten miles away. (Dick was a bloke, I think.) I had a long chat with the Professor of Catology - sorry, Cardiology who explained all sorts of stuff, and was very good, I thought, though the vet had said the same stuff in about two minutes. He listened to Talisker's heart, said that there was a minor murmur, and talked about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a thickening of the (muscle) wall of the heart. It is not uncommon in male cats, and there isn't much that one can do about it - there is no pre-emptive medication or cure. It may have no effect on the cat (any cat, that is) at all, or it might lead to the cat having further heart problems, including a heart attack, at which point you can treat those symptoms, but again there is nothing you can really do.
I left Talisker and drove back into Edinburgh, getting stuck in some absurd traffic jams; the city centre seemed to have ground to a stand-still.
Two hours later I was heading back through even bigger traffic jams (leading to a detour around Arthur's Seat...) to the Dick Vet, where Prof Cat explained that whilst there was slight thickening in part of the heart - around the valves - it was so minor as to barely count as HMC, and that frankly I shouldn't worry about it at all - unless Talisker started to show other symptoms (such as breathlessness, increased heart-rate, or unsteadiness on his legs). He would right to the vet to tell them to keep an ear open to any changes in the heart murmur, and if so, do another scan.
But, basically, nothing to worry about (until there is something to worry about!).
He also said that he thought Talisker was a big cat - which he then qualified to long, as Talisker stretched out on the examination table. So, no longer "littlecat Talisker", then.
For reasons I don't understand (and forgot to ask), the standard instructions from the Dick Vet were that cats shouldn't be fed the night before an examination. Talisker was most put out that no food was put out. He woke me at 4am demanding food; two hours later, when he realised that I wasn't going to give him any food, he became awfully cute, snuggling up to me as I dozed.
Since we got back from the cat hospital, he has eaten some food and has been very subdued, sleeping. he also has a bald patch, where he was shaved so they could do the scan. I guess it has been a stressful day for a
