Cat Update – Good New This Time

Given my recent cat news, I don’t blame you if your first instinct is to skip this post.  But please read.  There is a happy ending.

Shortly after the sad news about Sherbert, I took Julius in for his annual checkup.  Mom and I were feeling nervous and on edge, but surely there couldn’t be another issue.

There was.  My stomach dropped as the our vet told us in a very worried tone, “I hear a heart murmur and arrhythmia. We need to get these checked out, given the recent loss of Popsicle, and his litter’s history.” 

Julius was part of a litter of six.  Besides Popsicle, we know of one littermate who died of an apparent heart attack at six months old. So we didn’t hesitate. We had a blood test performed for cardiac damage and made an appointment with the specialist vet.  The closest opening they had for non-emergency assessments was in two weeks.  Appointment confirmed, we  began to wait.

During this time we watched him like a hawk as we tried to live our normal lives. Or what passes for normal with us. My sinus infection became walking pneumonia.  I took time off from my work to recover.  Of course it didn’t go that smoothly.

Late Thursday night, Julius began crying  after we used the litter box.  He wouldn’t settle but roamed the hallway, making distressed mews.  This is not normal cat zoomies. He also was stress grooming his belly.  Our regular vet wasn’t able to see him, so we took him to the emergency vet.  Our thoughts were two things – bladder infection or something heart related.  We spent most of the day at the emergency vet, people and pet watching.  And when we were seen, the vet determined it was something bladder related.  No stones, but maybe some debris, or possibly a bladder infection.   We were given pain meds for him and are waiting on the results of the culture.

With that in the back of our mind, we went to the cardiac appointment.  Shout out to Apex Veterinary Specialists.  They were awesome people who took care of us as much as Julius.  They kept us informed with every step of the process from check in to his blood pressure check and general assessment to the ultrasound.  They invited us to observe the echocardiogram. And all the time, they cooed over Julius about what a brave, handsome, and good boy he was being.

Onto the diagnosis. The tech did hear the arrhythmia and murmur.  The doctor did not.  His blood test came back negative for damage indicators, and his heart appeared normal on the scan. She suspects that the arrhythmia is a stress reaction. He does have a very low grade murmur.  It’s not anything that requires immediate treatment, just a yearly blood test to monitor for potential damage.  If that test comes back positive, we do another echocardiogram.

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  My baby boy’s heart is okay for the moment. Now we need to get this 5:00 AM yowling issue figured out.