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#1
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Burmese and heart problems
Hello,
I posted this to the health+behav group, and someone suggested that I post it here as well. My cat Morag, who is a Burmese, was diagnosed with severe HCM by my regular vet about a month ago after having undergone an ultrasound. On Thursday she saw a cardiologist at the veterinary hospital here, and after an ultrasound was performed using a machine with a higher resolution than the one previously used, the cardiologist said that she has a very unusual heart condition that doesn't fit into any textbook. She actually only has mild HCM, but the problem is that her heart is abnormal. Her left atrium is huge, and her left ventricle is just abnormal. The wall bulges inward in several places and also the ventricle contains crap, stuff that strings from one side of the chamber to the other. The cardio says that she has seen perhaps a handful of cats in her career with a presentation similar to Morag - the most interesting point she made was that out of that handful of cats, the cat with the heart that most closely resembles Morag's was also a Burmese. So I'm wondering if anyone has heard of this before in Burmese cats (or in any cat). |
#2
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Sarah said:
Hello, I posted this to the health+behav group, and someone suggested that I post it here as well. My cat Morag, who is a Burmese, was diagnosed with severe HCM by my regular vet about a month ago after having undergone an ultrasound. On Thursday she saw a cardiologist at the veterinary hospital here, and after an ultrasound was performed using a machine with a higher resolution than the one previously used, the cardiologist said that she has a very unusual heart condition that doesn't fit into any textbook. She actually only has mild HCM, but the problem is that her heart is abnormal. Her left atrium is huge, and her left ventricle is just abnormal. The wall bulges inward in several places and also the ventricle contains crap, stuff that strings from one side of the chamber to the other. The cardio says that she has seen perhaps a handful of cats in her career with a presentation similar to Morag - the most interesting point she made was that out of that handful of cats, the cat with the heart that most closely resembles Morag's was also a Burmese. So I'm wondering if anyone has heard of this before in Burmese cats (or in any cat). I was the person who directed you here. I have to add that the person who is a breeder that I mentioned lives in New Zealand, and is in a different time zone so her response might take a while. So give it a bit of time. If necessary post a message with Ping: Lois Reay or Ping: Bev as the subject to get in touch with them. Regards, rrb |
#3
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Hi,
I am the Burmese breeder referred to - I have bred Burmese for 17 years, I have never heard of a Burmese here in NZ with HCM (not to say that there hasn't been any.) Do you know the pedigree of Morag? (nice name) it would be interesting to see if your cat and the other mentioned Burmese where in anyway related. Best wishes. Lois "Sarah" wrote in message .rogers.com... Hello, I posted this to the health+behav group, and someone suggested that I post it here as well. My cat Morag, who is a Burmese, was diagnosed with severe HCM by my regular vet about a month ago after having undergone an ultrasound. On Thursday she saw a cardiologist at the veterinary hospital here, and after an ultrasound was performed using a machine with a higher resolution than the one previously used, the cardiologist said that she has a very unusual heart condition that doesn't fit into any textbook. She actually only has mild HCM, but the problem is that her heart is abnormal. Her left atrium is huge, and her left ventricle is just abnormal. The wall bulges inward in several places and also the ventricle contains crap, stuff that strings from one side of the chamber to the other. The cardio says that she has seen perhaps a handful of cats in her career with a presentation similar to Morag - the most interesting point she made was that out of that handful of cats, the cat with the heart that most closely resembles Morag's was also a Burmese. So I'm wondering if anyone has heard of this before in Burmese cats (or in any cat). |
#4
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Hi, thanks for responding.
She doesn't have HCM (well, she has mild HCM, but that's not the reason she's in heart failure). She has an abnormal heart - vastly enlarged left atrium and a left ventricle with a wall that bulges inward and "stuff" inside - they don't know exactly what it is. Unfortunately, I don't know her pedigree. I do know that Burmese cats are thought to be predisposed to dilated cardiomyopathy but it's not that either. According to the cardiologist, her heart isn't in any textbook - first words after doing the ultrasound were "your cat has an unusual heart". I'm just curious to see if anyone else has heard of a heart with a similar presentation, Burmese or not. "Lois Reay" wrote in message ... Hi, I am the Burmese breeder referred to - I have bred Burmese for 17 years, I have never heard of a Burmese here in NZ with HCM (not to say that there hasn't been any.) Do you know the pedigree of Morag? (nice name) it would be interesting to see if your cat and the other mentioned Burmese where in anyway related. Best wishes. Lois |
#5
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Just to follow up, someone emailed me and suggested that it might be a
condition called endocardial fibroelastosis, which is a congenital defect/familial disease in the Burmese. Technically it's a form of restrictive cardiomyopathy. It certainly sounds like that could be it from the description of the disorder. Unfortunately effective treatment is unknown and prognosis is unknown but thought to be poor, but we knew that anyway - she's already in heart failure. If anyone has more information about this, it would be much appreciated to pass along to my vet for future reference. "Sarah" wrote in message e.rogers.com... Hi, thanks for responding. She doesn't have HCM (well, she has mild HCM, but that's not the reason she's in heart failure). She has an abnormal heart - vastly enlarged left atrium and a left ventricle with a wall that bulges inward and "stuff" inside - they don't know exactly what it is. Unfortunately, I don't know her pedigree. I do know that Burmese cats are thought to be predisposed to dilated cardiomyopathy but it's not that either. According to the cardiologist, her heart isn't in any textbook - first words after doing the ultrasound were "your cat has an unusual heart". I'm just curious to see if anyone else has heard of a heart with a similar presentation, Burmese or not. "Lois Reay" wrote in message ... Hi, I am the Burmese breeder referred to - I have bred Burmese for 17 years, I have never heard of a Burmese here in NZ with HCM (not to say that there hasn't been any.) Do you know the pedigree of Morag? (nice name) it would be interesting to see if your cat and the other mentioned Burmese where in anyway related. Best wishes. Lois |
#6
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I dug deep into my memory and remembered that many, many moons ago I bred a
Tonkinese that had a heart defect - I can't really remember too much about it except her heart was swollen, I had sold her but kept in touch with the new owner (who knew that something was not quite right with her) and the vet, she was coming along very nicely but at about five months she collapsed and died suddenly - I replaced her free of charge to the owners. I guess this is not much help to you. But wish you all the best of luck with her. Lois "Sarah" wrote in message e.rogers.com... Hi, thanks for responding. She doesn't have HCM (well, she has mild HCM, but that's not the reason she's in heart failure). She has an abnormal heart - vastly enlarged left atrium and a left ventricle with a wall that bulges inward and "stuff" inside - they don't know exactly what it is. Unfortunately, I don't know her pedigree. I do know that Burmese cats are thought to be predisposed to dilated cardiomyopathy but it's not that either. According to the cardiologist, her heart isn't in any textbook - first words after doing the ultrasound were "your cat has an unusual heart". I'm just curious to see if anyone else has heard of a heart with a similar presentation, Burmese or not. |
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