Case Of The Month

Penelope is a 3 year old domestic short-haired cat. She is adorable and loves to snuggle, but she was having some bad breath.  Her owner took her to the veterinarian for her annual check-up. She had some heavy tartar and gingivitis. Some areas were so red and swollen that it was suspected that she may have periodontitis, an infection of the bone surrounding the tooth roots, and she may need to have some teeth extracted. Pets routinely go under general anesthesia for teeth cleaning. These days it is very safe since we use the same drugs and gasses they use on infants and elderly people. Penelope had one additionally concern, though, she had a heart murmur.

Heart murmurs are sounds that the heart makes while beating, usually due to turbulent blood flow through a leaky, narrow or abnormal valve. Some heart murmurs are very benign and some are very serious. The trouble is that they can all sound about the same. The way to find out the seriousness is to have a special ultrasound of the heart called an echocardiogram, or echo for short. During an echo the valves and muscles inside the heart can be viewed and measured. The blood flow through each valve is measured and calculations can determine pressures, speeds and mechanics of every part of each heart beat. Areas of turbulent blood flow are identified and quantified. An enormous amount of information about every detail of the heart function is gathered. Depending on what is found some pets will need to go on medication to help their heart actually be more efficient or less prone to progression of their specific type of heart disease.

Penelope was able to come have an echo with a veterinary cardiologist that visits our practice with his state-of-the-art ultrasound machine. Penelope was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy, which causes abnormal blood flow through a valve and high heart rates which puts a lot of strain on the heart muscle. This heart condition can be serious and is prone to causing complications with certain types of anesthesia. Penelope’s risk for problems from this type of heart disease can be mitigated by starting some medication now to control her heart rate and murmur. The cardiologist was able to determine which anesthetic drugs Penelope can have safely. Once her heart murmur is controlled on this medication she will be able to have anesthesia to take care of her dental disease. Her bad breath and gingivitis will soon be a thing of the past.