Went to see the cardiologist about Jones this afternoon. She did an ultrasound of his heart and determined that he has feline hypertrohpic cardiomyopathy, which is a nutshell is a form of heart disease. To spare the long details, the atrium of his left heart is thickening. If it continues without medication, it will continue to thicken and form scar tissue and fluid will build up and he would go into congestive heart failure due to fluid leaking into the lungs.
Right now, Jones disease isn't too bad, and they are not able to guess whether or not the disease will progress slowly or quickly. She recomends we go back and get another ultrasound and scan of his heart in 6 to 9 months to do the same measurements and that can give us an idea of how quickly it is progressing.
Jones also had an lump near his thyroid, so he had his bloodwork drawn and we should have the results tomorrow. If his thyroid is out of wack, this could be causing the problem with his heart. If his thyroid is normal, then he will go onto two medications for his heat, one would be a blood thinner to prevent blood clots as well as another one to help with the thickening of the heart wall.
She kept telling me that we caught this VERY early and there is plenty that can be done and that also most cats with the disease have an excellent quality of life and don't have any clue that they are sick. So that is good. She doesn't think that he will live to be a super old cat, like 20 years old, but thinks that as of now he will be with us for a long time still.
Jones did very well with the ultrasound and was a very good kitty. He wasn't impressed with going to the vet again so quickly but it's all over and he is back at home and relaxed.
So...good news. I am relieved that my litte adorable munchkin will continue to be with us for awhile and there are medications that we can give him to hopefully slow down the progression. I hardly slept at all last night just from the worry about what if. At least I know what we are dealing with.
Right now, Jones disease isn't too bad, and they are not able to guess whether or not the disease will progress slowly or quickly. She recomends we go back and get another ultrasound and scan of his heart in 6 to 9 months to do the same measurements and that can give us an idea of how quickly it is progressing.
Jones also had an lump near his thyroid, so he had his bloodwork drawn and we should have the results tomorrow. If his thyroid is out of wack, this could be causing the problem with his heart. If his thyroid is normal, then he will go onto two medications for his heat, one would be a blood thinner to prevent blood clots as well as another one to help with the thickening of the heart wall.
She kept telling me that we caught this VERY early and there is plenty that can be done and that also most cats with the disease have an excellent quality of life and don't have any clue that they are sick. So that is good. She doesn't think that he will live to be a super old cat, like 20 years old, but thinks that as of now he will be with us for a long time still.
Jones did very well with the ultrasound and was a very good kitty. He wasn't impressed with going to the vet again so quickly but it's all over and he is back at home and relaxed.
So...good news. I am relieved that my litte adorable munchkin will continue to be with us for awhile and there are medications that we can give him to hopefully slow down the progression. I hardly slept at all last night just from the worry about what if. At least I know what we are dealing with.
2 Comments:
Sorry to hear about the heart condition, but VERY glad you caught it early and it's treatable. Jones is a sweetie!
That is good news! Thanks for the update - I'm glad to hear Jones will be okay.
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