Update after Vet Appointment

stephanietx said:

 
She was at the vet 2 weeks ago?  I bet the stress of the car ride and being at the vet triggered an infection, possibly something like an upper respiratory infection.  Two weeks is about the right time frame for something like that to pop up. 

I would strongly suggest getting her some plain meat baby food, chicken or turkey, no onions or garlic added. I prefer BeechNut brand as it also has no corn starch.  Also try some canned food like Fancy Feast (no fish) and see if she'll take to that. My kitties LOVE baby food, even when they are under the weather.  I just feed about a spoonful every 3-4 hours, then I start mixing it with their regular canned food. 

If you get pedialyte, get the plain unflavored kind. You can mix with food. It helps keep electrolytes balanced and keeps her hydrated.

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teacherdl said:

 
Well.....Took KiKi to the vet....The vet first told us that she has a Grade 3 heart murmur (This was not noticed when she was there for her checkup two weeks ago which makes no sense) and a fever (103).  Then they did all kinds of blood work, and everything was fine.  The only thing was that one of her proteins was a little high , but he said that could be from her not eating.  They said her fever was of "unknown origins", and gave her a shot to bring her temperature down. He also gave us an appetite stimulant to give her if she needs it. She was not dehydrated and no signs of infection...only the heart murmur and fever. He told us to let her eat whatever she would eat (even if it was treats), give her her plain water, and also some water with a little gatorade or pedialyte.  He wants us to watch her for a couple of days, give her the appetite stimulants if she needs it, and let them know. He wants to try these things first before we do an echocardiogram (which would be at a specialist almost 2 hours away from us.) The thoughts of taking her that far makes me a nervous wreck...She cries and meows constantly on the 20 minute ride to and from the vet (and he said he couldn't give her a sedative because of her heart.

Anyone know much about heart murmurs?

We are so worried, but trying to follow the doctor's orders of watching her but not watching her too much  because he says that could make her worse.

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Geoffrey said:

 
I am a human doctor, not a veterinarian, but I am a consultant in internal medicine who has practised cardiology and I know a great deal about heart murmurs.

The first thing that you should know is that a heart murmur is not a diagnosis. It is the sound heard by a vibration made by the blood as it goes through one of the four heart valves. These valves are the Mitral valve, the Tricuspid valve, the Aortic valve and the Pulmonary valve.

Many heart murmurs are quite benign and do no harm, these are called "Functional murmurs". These murmurs can vary depending on whether the cat is stressed or relaxed. Others are due to the individual valve being narrowed (or stenosed), or leaking (regurgitating). Therefore we can diagnose the various valves as being narrowed or leaking just by the sounds heard using a stethoscope.

The diagnosis of "A heart murmur" means nothing at all.  The murmur should be attributed to the valve concerned and a comment made as to whether it is functional or not   Human cardiologists  do this just by listening to the various valves. (I can recall many hours being taught how to listen to various valves on patients when I was a medical student).  The cardiologist may also use technical machines called electrocardiographs and echocardiographs to assist him/her.  This is why your vet wants an echocardiogram; this will show whether Kiki's various valves are normal, narrowed or leaking and whether the ventricles (or the muscular part of the heart that actually pumps blood around the circulation) are normal or not. 

I am quite unable to give you even a guess about what is wrong with Kiki, if anything.  An Echocardiograph would help significantly in making a diagnosis of the murmur and I urge you to accept your vet's advice and let Kiki have one, even though Kiki does not travel well.

I have had Siamese cats that do not travel well; I used to take them to a holiday cabin on an Island every weekend and found that sitting in the back seat with a familiar hand in the travel cage would go a long way towards calming them.. 

Try not to worry. Your fears are likely to be much worse than is the actual situation.

With all best wishes to you both,

Geoffrey

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teacherdl said:

 

Geoffrey, thank you so much! I really appreciate the explanation!  She had a "weak spell" this morning...She kind of froze in place and then stumbled over. Then, she was fine. Something is just not right with her, but our trip to the vet did not offer much of an explanation. I went ahead and gave her the appetite stimulant this morning because she didn't eat, drink or use the litter box through the night. I teach and this is my last day of winter break. I dread leaving her.

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The ride to the echocardiogram will be about 1.5 hours. She cries nonstop on the 20 minute ride to the vet. I just worry that being upset could make her heart worse? Do you have a thought on that? Sorry to bother you. I'm just so worried.

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