Kitty medical question

[artful dodger]

I'd feel better if my cat lived as long as I do but I know that will not happen. I am getting the test done first and decide from there. Fact is, she apparantly has a heart problem and instead of screwing around with meds, I'd rather try to hit the right med the first time out. I've got to lay my trust in my vet b/c I have no other choice. If I do nothing and problem occurs down the road that I could have prevented then I could not live with myself.

Now I feel really awful...that no matter what I choose could be the wrong thing for my baby.

[nobel]

My 19 and 3/4 yr old kitty was diagnosed as having a heart murmer about 2 yrs ago. The vet basically said, "At this age, they all do." Cori now gets one half a baby aspirin every third day to help his heart and, as a side benefit, to help with the discomfort from arthritis he has in his spine. Basically I was told it's not a huge deal, except in the case of surgery, and then it's only a big deal if they don't know about the murmur ahead of time and donm't take appropriate precautions. I don't know how the "galloping" murmur differs from Cori's condition however.

BTW, about 6 months after we found this out, my sister was told the same thing (from a different vet) about her 14 yr old cat, and was also told to give her the same dosage of baby aspirin.
Both cats are alive and well, no worries at all, though sis's cat had a brief spell of very bad constipation last year and had to spend a day or two at the vets while they "irrigated" her. (wanna see a very very very unhappy cat? Stick a constantly flowing water pipe up their rear end!)

Now, as far as any of that goes, both my father and my twin sister have heart murmurs, and neither has ever had any complications resulting from them. My father's was diagnosed when he was drafted back in 1952....

I hope you can get everything settled to your satisfaction and comfort level, and please keep us updated on your kitty!

[StarrySky]

My cat had his appointment today and the lump I found was nothing to worry about. He's on antibiotics and will be fine. ;D
Thank God![/color]

[artful dodger]

Yeah for StarrySky!!! I am soo happy for you and Squeak! Maybe Boo will have the same news.

[StarrySky]

Thank you! Squeak and I will pray for Boo. Squeak's sleeping right now as he's had a stressful day. But, because I went with him I knew he'd stay fairly calm and he had a nice dinner when he came home.

[afan]

I'm glad things are okay for Squeak. Hope he feels better after his nap.

[StarrySky]

Thanks! He'll be better tommorow. All that driving to and from the vet basically he missed his nap time and he's going to catch up now. lol

[riogrrrl]

My cat was about the same age when his heart problem was diagnosed. He had to take Fortekor tablets for the rest of his life. He passed away at Christmas aged 15 but not because of his heart - he had a tumour in his stomach.

Can't believe how much you guys are paying for heart tests though. I thought I was living in rip off Britain! Our vets didn't have the equipment to do the tests themselves so they had a dial up service which was based in America. I think I paid about £120 for the tests which at most would be $240 and this included the cost of diagnosis in the US!

[StarrySky]

I'm sorry for your loss Riogrrrl. You know my story about Smokey. I'm glad you at least had alot more years with your cat. It's just hard for me as I wanted my cat to be an indoor cat but, was overruled. I miss my Smokey so much.

[riogrrrl]

Aw poor Smokey. When my cat was diagnosed with his tumour he disappeared for a day and I was beside myself. When he came back I never let him out again. So I know how you feel - it's a shame you never got to say goodbye to Smokey properly.