On the Beat

Back 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 a little cat.

I had a shock today.

It was very - very - windy. I hadn't shut the flat's front door properly and, when one of my neighbors opened the door to the road, it blew open my door.

I found the door open. And I couldn't see Talisker. ANYWHERE. I dashed into the stairway, ran down the stairs, and, worried, into the street.

Not a sign.

I went back up to the flat, and once again searched.I couldn't find him anywhere. A bit desperate, I looked again.And I found Talisker hiding under the sofa, where he must have been the whole time...

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Time for another Talisker update.

A couple of months ago, when I took Talisker (unnecessarily) to the vet, I realised I wasn't feeding him as much as I should, by maybe 20%. The vet also said I should feed him some wet food.

So I changed his diet and his feeding regime, giving him a third wet food (one pouch) in the morning and dry food twice a day (in the afternoon and very early in the morning).

This has had many effects.

He stopped being a cat that ate everything in front of him immediately and has become a grazer - and quite often there is food left over (partly because he seems to be much fussier about wet food, preferring some sorts more than others, and partly because he sometimes leaves some dry food as well, which goes back into the bowl for his next meal).

This means he is generally still eating less than recommended, though he has probably put on a bit of weight, too. Not too much, though.

He has also become less demanding - since there is usually food there.

That said, he still wakes me up to show him where the food is, and now demands getting his wet food when I get up...

And here is the obligatory Talisker photo...

You must all be wondering how Talisker is getting on. It is three months since I started using an automatic feeder, set to go off at 4am in an effort to stop Talisker waking me to feed him at this hour.

Little has changed. Talisker, sleeping on the bed, generally wakes at 3am or so and climbs onto my chest, lying there purring. Whilst very cute. This invariably wakes me (a couple of times in panic as I wake up from a dream in which I cannot breathe…).

Sometime I fall back asleep.

At which point I am rewoken when the feeder goes off and Talisker jumps from my chest with great force and sprints to devour the pellets. The shock of this on my dream-self is something to behold.

Shutting him out of the bedroom has been discarded as a strategy, since his whining miaows are so disturbing that

So basically, Talisker has got everything he might want.

In other Talisker news, since I moved my furniture about, he has taken to hiding beneath the sofa, swiping at objects as they pass…