Savannah Cat Chat - THE Place for Savannah Cat Talk

Welcome to the Savannah Cat Chat Forum! Our forum has been in existence since 2012 and is the only one of its kind. We were here, serving the savannah cat community before Facebook and Instagram! Register for a free account today to become a member! Please use an email program other than Hotmail, since Hotmail accounts are blacklisted by many servers and ISP's. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site in some of the forums by adding your own topics and posts. But in order to take advantage of the full features, such as a private inbox as well as connect with other members ad access some of the larger topics, a donation of $2.99/mo or $25/yr is requested. This will allow us to continue running this forum!

HCM in Cats

Michaela

Savannah Super Cat
Thus is the non translated medical repost in Romeo still asymptomatic at this time -
No time to translate to normal non medical language yet.
So here I am with my second cat with HCM . Most pet owner will not detect a murmur or spend the $$$ on a asymptomatic kitten .
Like the breeder saids " what is the big deal if he is asymptomatic"
The big deal is sudden death and irreversible clot and heart failure like my 9 y old cat had .....
=========================

ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC FINDINGS: The patient was not sedated and imaged well. Subjectively, the right heart is normal. The diameter of the main pulmonary artery is within normal limits. Transpulmonary flow velocities within normal limits. There is moderate (0.8-0.9 IVSd) regional LV hypertrophy. There is Doppler and m-mode evidence of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction with little
evidence of mitral regurgitation. The left atrium is mildly enlarged (1.8 cm) with normal auricular emptying velocities. The transmitral flow velocity profile documents E/A reversal consistent with a relaxation abnormality. There is no evidence of pericardial effusion or a cardiac mass lesion. DIAGNOSTIC INTERPRETATION: Today's evaluation is consistent with a diagnosis of hypertrophic obstructive cardio myopathy with moderate hypertrophy and mild left atrial enlargement. There is no evidence of an intra-cavitary thrombus or sontaneous echocardiographic contrast. CLINICAL ASSESSMENT: Today's examination is consistent with a diagnosis of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. The degree of hypertrophy coupled with the patient's young age 9 mo. makes me concerned about the long-term prognosis. I believe the severity of the changes places this patient at substantially increased risk for anesthetic complications. I do not recommend general anesthesia unless absolutely necessary. I believe it is reasonable to adopt either an aggressive or conservative appro management would include initiation of the beta blocker (atenolol) at a dose of 1 mg/kg orally twice daily, with gradual up titration to consistently obtain a target heart rate of approximately 130-140 bpm. Additionally, administration of a platelet aggregation inhibitor (clopidogrel or aspirin) could be considered. The mild left atrial enlargement, coupled with the normal auricular emptying velocities suggest that this patient is probably not at markedly increased risk for thromboembolic events however accurate prediction of the risk of these events is challenging. I've placed a call to Dr. Kate Meurs at North Carolina State University to inquire into whether or not she has identified specific genetic mutations in this breed and associated them with early development of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Submitting blood to her lab may prove informative. Repeating the echocardiogram in 4-6 months should provide important prognostic information. This reevaluation should be performed whether medical management is started or not.
=========================


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Michaela L
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
Wow...not sure why anyone would say what is the big deal?

Of course you would be upset and take care of him...He is your baby!

I screened zuri, my breeding female for hcm...it is a big deal..I'm sorry you are going through this...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
I'm glad the vet has recommended medical therapy - much better to start now when asymptomatic than try to play catch-up after his first episode of heart failure. The fact that he already shows evidence of obstruction is rather concerning, as is the fact that the left atria is already starting to dilate. I know humans and cats respond differently to meds but I've not heard of using clopidrogrel to avoid clots in HOCM, but obviously whatever your vet recommends is what you need to do.

Have you sent this report to your breeder? I think I asked before, but what does your contract say about genetic diseases?
 

Michaela

Savannah Super Cat
There are about 200 vet cardiologist pin the country

In 2007 dr church dx the massive clot in my 9 y old cat the was on beta blockers all his live .. He put him down for me because it was too painful to treat him .

I sent the report to the breeder late today

I saw Dr Miller he comes x2 a month from Texas
There is one on flagstaff

Local 3 more

Dr. Kathryn Atkinson
Desert Veterinary Medical Specialists
Arizona Veterinary Specialists
86 W. Juniper Ave.
Gilbert, AZ 85233
Tel: 480-635-1110
Website: DVMspecialists.com

Dr. Whitney Merritt Church
Desert Veterinary Medical Specialists
Arizona Veterinary Specialists
86 W. Juniper Ave.
Gilbert, AZ 85233
Tel: 480-635-1110
Email: wchurch@azvs.com
Website: DVMspecialists.com

Dr. Timothy E. Hodge
Desert Veterinary Medical Specialists
Arizona Veterinary Specialists
86 W. Juniper Ave.
Gilbert, AZ 85233
Tel: 480-635-1110
Website: DVMspecialists.com




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Michaela L
 

Michaela

Savannah Super Cat
My contract says that if on the 1 st year of life the cat died of a related disease congenital they want proof ... No replacement
No screaming warrantee

I want keep my Romeo anyway but expected se support and information about the patens

The mom is having more babies this spring
The sister is retained for breeding
The father disappeared of the web for some reason .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Michaela L
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
I am so sorry you are dealing with this again... it IS the most common cause of cat death beyond car accidents, and spans all breeds and mixed breed cats (they find HCM in feral cat populations)... it is particularly worrisome when it is a kitten diagnosed as this is early onset. I see the cardiologist is already prescribing medication and given you have been through this before you know that this can add years of happy kitty life. I hope your kitten does get some good quality life there.

I agree with the others, I have NO idea why the breeder is not regarding this seriously. You've done all the right things by having this properly diagnosed. I would be horrified and so sad for you as a breeder... and most definitely this should qualify under the most basic of health guarantees (except I did just see a breeder advertising only 6 months of genetic health guarantee!).

I had a Savannah with a heart valve defect that wasn't supposed to make 2 years of life and he was over 12 when he passed of another disease. I know of SVs with early diagnosis that maintained on medication for HCM for many many years... given the early diagnosis I think there is hope your boy can be managed...I certainly hope so.

And I also screen all the cats in my program before using them, cardiac ultrasounds are not perfect and they are not predictive but they are the best we have... I am so very sorry this has happened. It is a huge blow :-(
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
My contract says that if on the 1 st year of life the cat died of a related disease congenital they want proof ... No replacement
No screaming warrantee

I want keep my Romeo anyway but expected se support and information about the patens

The mom is having more babies this spring
The sister is retained for breeding
The father disappeared of the web for some reason .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Michaela L
Oh that definitely is scary to know that with your kitten with early onset HCM that there are more kittens expected, and the sister kept for breeding. I sincerely hope the breeder has both mom and daughter screened now with this knowledge.

Another indication to pet buyers, read your contract. If a kitten has to DIE in the first year? Wow, so if you leave him unmedicated he would die, but if you are a good pet owner you void your health guarantee? I must say that I had a similar contract with the cat I described above with the heart valve defect. The breeder was ethical enough to agree that leaving him to die to fulfil the contract terms was not reasonable and she "replaced" him nevertheless...we did not return him, she obviously didn't want to take him and his vet bills on! But she did give me credit on my very first breeding Savannah...who has given me an entire line of screened-negative Savannahs. Your breeder has the opportunity to go further than the contract and "do the right thing"....
 

Patti

Admin
Staff member
Another indication to pet buyers, read your contract. If a kitten has to DIE in the first year? Wow, so if you leave him unmedicated he would die, but if you are a good pet owner you void your health guarantee?
Read again Brigitte - there is no 'guarantee' - the breeder only wants proof of the genetic defect if the cat dies, there is NO replacement, no refund - nothing :(
 
Top