Friday, February 09, 2007
Kitty Cardiologist 6 month follow up
So today we went to the Kitty Cardiologist again. It went much quicker this time! We got brought back by a visiting vet student from RI who took a history and did a brief exam, and then the same tech as last time came in to do his bp (which is great at 140 btw). The coolest part of that was that the tech remembered us from 6 months ago. When I think of how many kitty tails she's seen in that time frame, it warms the cockles of my heart to know Seamus made that much of an impression.
Then the Cardiology fellow came in. She did an exam, and then said we were being "fast tracked" because they had some emergencies coming in. That meant that instead of waiting, we went straight back for his echo.
My little boy was such an amazingly wonderfully behaved kitty for it! Everyone loves him! In the echo was the cardiologist, the 4th year from RI, and 3 other random people, not sure if they were students or techs or what, and then at some point another cardiology fellow wandered in. Seamus just laid there and watched. It was cute, he actually raised his head to look at the screen. He made one teeny tiny protesting noise, but it was because the one girl was holding him down by his hips, and he doesnt like that. Once she moved her hand up a little, he was fine. Everyone couldnt stop commenting on how good and how sweet he is. He really is, it makes my heart swell with pride :)
The not so good news is there has been "mild to moderate progression" of the myopathy. He has "severe left ventricular free wall hypertrophy with remodeling of the endocardium. Papillary muscles appear fused. Moderate band present in left ventricle. Mild left atrial enlargement present. Small jet of mitral regurgitation."
Now the thing I dont quite get is that this sounds REALLY bad IMO, but they still have the final diagnosis as "Moderate hypertrophic cardiomyopathy" which is what it was before. So although they said "mild to moderate progression", he's still considered moderate disease overall. So Im taking it all as a good thing.
They didnt change his atenolol dose, but did add Plavix. He is at an increased risk of throwing a clot and we dont want that! We're not doing baby aspirin because he's going to start prednisone for his inflammatory bowel issues. He got the cardiac clearance for that.
Im somewhat torn on that, because a risk of the prednisone is progression of the heart condition. But the poopie issues seem to actually bother him, he gets this sorta sadness whe it's acting up, and so I think that's what's tipping the scale in the prednisone favor.
The primary care vet who's been treating his poopie problems for a year now said he may only need a short course, but more likely it'll be a more long term thing, but the does will be wicked tiny over time.
I know some people think Im crazy for caring so much about a cat. But those of you who get it- get it. He is my baby, he is the sweetest cat in the history of the world, and I would do anything for him.
The coolest part about our visit today is that it cost a third of what I anticipated! So the $400 that I had to spend on my car last week hurts a wee bit less because I figured that today was going to be $300 more, so that's like I only spent $100 on my car, and I had expected $30 of that anyway for the inspection (how much does it suck that you have to pay that much for inspection??), ergo it's like I only spent $70 on the car.
How's that for financial rationalization?
Now I dont feel as guilty for spending the money on a massage tomorrow ;)
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Good news!
We had a huge drama with our oldest cat (he's 12 this year, have had him since kittenhood) last fall. He ended up having an eye removed (long & gross story there, sigh). People thought I was crazy. He's my BABY. End of story.