Took the cat to the vet today

[xiphias]

She's got shots due, and it's about time to do some dental work for her. So we took her in for prelminary bloodwork, y'know, because the sedate her for the dental stuff, and we'd be really upset if she didn't come out of the sedation and all.

She's down to eight and a half pounds. Which is a GREAT weight for her, really, but she got to it a bit fast. . . The vet thinks she could detect a somewhat enlarged thyroid, and a fast heart rate. So, since they're doing the bloodwork, anyway, we'll be seeing if our kitty has become hyperthyroid.

The other thing is that the vet thinks she may have detected a slight heart murmur, too. So we may be doing an ultrasound to check that out.

Boop is fourteen years old, which means that this sort of thing isn't really too unexpected. Still, we're really hoping she'll have six more years of heath.

Comments

[burgundy.livejournal.com]

I hope everything comes out ok. Worrying about kitties is Not Fun. But if it comes to it, hyperthyroid is super easy to take care of.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

That's what the vet said -- frankly, I'm more worried about the heart murmur, and that's probably nothing, too. I mean, even if it's there, most heart murmurs aren't anything to to worry about.

Boopsie had been unhealthily obese for a long time -- now she's a healthy weight, if on the skinny side of healthy weight. So, anyway, now that I know that, I feel much less guilty about sneaking her table scraps. . .

[mitchellf.livejournal.com]

Don't worry too much about the heart murmur--apparently (as I found out from living with roommates who had cats), many cats are born with heart murmurs, and, while the condition might not be detected in kittens, it usually manifests more strongly in adult cats.

And, even if it is something that developed more recently, I'm sure it will still be okay. My sister-in-law's cat (Shadow is only my brother's cat, when my sister-in-law gives her a bath) has had a heart murmur for 4 years now, and is 13 (people) years old, and still going strong. :-)

Good luck with the blood tests and dental work, and don't worry too much, okay?

[vonbeck.livejournal.com]

If she dose have hyperthyroid it should be easily managed with medication. Leroy was on medication for hyperthyroidism
for years and responded well to the treatment.

I hope all is as minor as it seem for Boopsie.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I'll be sending her good luck vibes. (*I* have a "slight heart murmur," and am in perfect health, so don't panic yet. With any luck, you'll never have to panic.) May she have a long happy life yet to go.

[silver1226.livejournal.com]

i hope the kitty will be okay

[cheshyre]

a GREAT weight for her, really, but she got to it a bit fast

How fast has it been?

I just went looking in my archives for my own post on the matter, and found late 2002, she weighed 9.4 lbs Maybe that was a fluke (they mismeasured), or maybe she regained some of the weight since then, but it doesn't seem *as* dramatic as I'd thought.