Monday, April 1, 2013

April's New Cat Yoga Pose and Phantom's Diagnosis




The Murph turned the calendar page today to April and a new kitty yoga pose. This pose is called Lord of the Dance. There's no way I can do this one without falling over or seriously doing some bodily injury so I'll stick with the "safer" yoga poses. The Murph got a good laugh when he flipped the calendar and saw it. I think Mr. March kitty was funnier though. This cat sort of looks like Cadence.


On a sadder note, Phantom's cardiologist appointment was today to find out the condition of his heart and why he suddenly developed a heart murmur. The vet did an echo cardiogram on him. Phantom did really great and was purring most of the visit. The vet diagnosed him with heart disease. Looks like he didn't have a heart worm after all.

He has mild to moderate hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is a thickening of the heart wall. He has to take Atenolol, a beta blocker and continue on Lasix, his diuretic. Prognosis is fair. She said some cats  get better, some get worse and some stay the same with the medication. It is usually genetic, but Phantom is still overweight even though he's lost 5 pounds since he got sick a couple of months ago with all the vomiting. He is a big cat too. I'm cutting back even more on his food intake. He's a beggar when it comes to table food and he loves cookies. He's been known to steal them if he can get his paws on them. But no more!


Hopefully he will be one of the ones who get better! I gave him half of a pill tonight and tomorrow he will take another half and some Lasix. He was very glad to get back home and not left behind at the vet. I carried him in my arms since he didn't want to be in the carrier. The minute I brought his carrier inside after we got home he ran downstairs and hid! Ed and Cadence started playing on it and going inside it.

Poor Phantom! He's had enough vet visits!

4 comments:

  1. I hope phantom gets better with the medication. And I hope he can handle being on a diet. Maybe Phantom could take up cat yoga to help shed some extra pounds.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Too bad there are no cat yoga classes. I would buy a cat yoga dvd but I don't think Phantom would watch it and participate. He needs group interaction. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. There's a good reason you can't do that pose: you don't have a tail!
    Poor Phantom, hopefully he will do ok on the meds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right! I could never do that pose. I didn't notice the tail grabbing part.

      Delete