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Roo Has HCM

ja&roo

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Hello Everyone,

I know it's been a long time. I've been very busy and a lot going on in my world and needed to process it all.
Roo had his Eco and as you can see by the title, Roo has HCM he also has Aortic Stenosis:Cry: I don't know if those commonly go together. We will have another Eco in 6-8 months. My vet started him on Atenolol 1/4 of a 25mg tab every 24hrs. It's too early to tell if he's having any side effects from it.

It sounds like many of you have had some experience with this disease. If anyone has any input I would love to hear it and greatly appreciate it:ThumbsUp:

Also, I'm sure some of you who are familiar with my situation, are wondering about the breeder etc. You will be happy to know, she is reimbersing the cost of the Eco and reimbersing for Roo without requiring me to send him back! As I told ilovemysphynx, "the fact that she's doing the right thing, means more to me than the money."

I look forward to hearing from you guys

Sincerely, Ja
 

kiennasmom

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Hi Ja,

I'm so sorry to hear about Roo. I have had 2 cats with HCM that passed away and now Bayleigh has it. She is on the same dosage of Atenelol as Roo. Each cat is different with how they progress. Some cats live many years with the disease. The Winn Feline Foundation does HCM research, including sphynx breed specific research so hopefully someday soon they'll be able to find the genetic marker.

There are several people on this forum that can give you the medical side of things but I'm not one of them. I just know what I've been through personally with my babies. I'm hoping for many many happy years ahead for Roo!!! If you ever want to chat about it or get feelings off you chest, please feel free to PM me.

Kathy
 

Mews2much

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So sorry that Roo has HCM.
I am glad the breeder is doing the right thing.
My sister got a Bengal last Sept 16th and he had to be pts Nov 2oth at 8 months of age.
The breeder has been good about everything and the new kittens will be born any day.
I also have alot of friends with HCM cats.
 

admin

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Im really sorry to hear about Roo Ja, I am glad the breeder is doing the right thing. There is plenty of information on the site about Hcm, just do a quick search. I wish you all the luck with Roo!
 

Brooke

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Hi Ja,

I'm so terribly sorry to hear this news. :Cry: Ra is so young. My biggest hope is that you've found his HCM early and, like kiennasmom says, each cat is different. Each cat responds differently to their medications. Your best bet here is to educate yourself about the disease as much as you can and be aware of any changes in his behavior, no matter how small or insignificant you might think they are. Fortunately, he's not in a heart failure situation, and could potentially live many, many healthy years with HCM. Just keep a close eye on his eating, breathing, sleeping patterns for any changes.

Right now he is on a fairly low dose of medication. The best scenario is that when you have his next echo in 6 months, you'll see either no change in his values or in some rare cases, atenolol has been shown to even reduce the size of the heart.

I recall that your parents have Ra's half-brother. Please remember that HCM is genetic, so I urge you to have them take their cat for an echo, too, when he is between 8 months and 1 year old. He should have an echo done every year, even if it comes back normal the first time. This will give the cardiologist a base line to be able to catch changes very early.

Again, so sorry to hear the news about Ra. Having lost my boy to HCM, my heart breaks a little bit more every time I hear about another one being diagnosed. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Hugs to you and Ra.
 

sydkat7

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Hi Ja,

Just wanted to express my condolences regarding Roo's condition and also offer a little hope. My purebred Siamese cat Sydney has HCM, too, but thanks to early detection (by my vet), good diet, low stress lifestyle, and medication (5 mg of benazepril a day), she is doing quite well and is now at a ripe old age of 14 years. She got really sick earlier last year and deteriorated to a thin 5 lbs, but now she looks good (she gained back a lb.) and has pretty good energy for her age. With good care and medication, your Roo can still live a good quality of life for quite a few years to come. :ThumbsUp:
 

susi794

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Hi Ja,

Please remember that HCM is genetic, so I urge you to have them take their cat for an echo, too, when he is between 8 months and 1 year old.
You can scan at 8 mos.? Just contacted Michigan State University cardiology lab recently to make an appointment and they recommended waiting for the cat to be a year old.
 

Brooke

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You can scan at 8 mos.? Just contacted Michigan State University cardiology lab recently to make an appointment and they recommended waiting for the cat to be a year old.

I would wait for 1 year, maybe sooner in this case with Dooley (Roo's half-brother) because of the family history of HCM - especially if he's also got a heart murmur.
 

PitRottMommy

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Ja,
I'm very glad that you chose to have the HCM scan done. Obviously, you already know that this diagnosis and treatment will help extend his life. I'm glad your breeder had been stand up in this time of upset, but I hope above all that they actually start scanning their breeders. . Keep us posted!!
 

pinupcats

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Hi Ja,

I am very sad your precious Roo has HCM. I hope the meds start working and that he lives a long and very loved life.

Ja,
I'm very glad that you chose to have the HCM scan done. Obviously, you already know that this diagnosis and treatment will help extend his life. I'm glad your breeder had been stand up in this time of upset, but I hope above all that they actually start scanning their breeders. . Keep us posted!!


It is very possible that the breeder DID have her cats scanned and nothing at the time of breeding was found to raise any alarms. At this time, there is no 100% fool proof way to be sure that a cat doesn't have or carry HCM. Some cats can carry it but not express it, which is why it somtimes seems like it skips generations. Breeders can scan and have a cat be perfectly clear at 1, 2 or even 3 years of age and them boom, the ball drops and they scan posstive at 4 years of age.

Hopefully soon the research being done by the Winn Feline Foundation will provide us with some better tools and more accurate way of testing all our cats to insure that those who carry/express HCM are removed from breeding programs. It's so hard with the Sphynx because many lines are effected by HCM or other genetic illnesses, so no pedigree is 100% safe. Scanning and removing effective cats at this point are our best defenses.

Sending many kitty hugs
Cyndee
 

lovinsphynx

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I'm so sorry to hear about Roo but i will keep you both in my prayers that things will go well for you both.
 

ja&roo

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It is very possible that the breeder DID have her cats scanned and nothing at the time of breeding was found to raise any alarms. At this time, there is no 100% fool proof way to be sure that a cat doesn't have or carry HCM. Some cats can carry it but not express it, which is why it somtimes seems like it skips generations. Breeders can scan and have a cat be perfectly clear at 1, 2 or even 3 years of age and them boom, the ball drops and they scan posstive at 4 years of age.

Hopefully soon the research being done by the Winn Feline Foundation will provide us with some better tools and more accurate way of testing all our cats to insure that those who carry/express HCM are removed from breeding programs. It's so hard with the Sphynx because many lines are effected by HCM or other genetic illnesses, so no pedigree is 100% safe. Scanning and removing effective cats at this point are our best defenses.

Sending many kitty hugs
Cyndee

Yeah, she scans all her breeders. Roo's parents were scanned in 07 and again just this past Oct. They scanned negative. She gave me the contact info for the cardiologist who did the scan, I'm going to follow up with him just for my own knowledge.:Study:
 

Brooke

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Yeah, she scans all her breeders. Roo's parents were scanned in 07 and again just this past Oct. They scanned negative. She gave me the contact info for the cardiologist who did the scan, I'm going to follow up with him just for my own knowledge.:Study:

If you're curious for some knowledge, Ja, you can look up the other cats in Roo's pedigree (his grandparents and further) on the Sphynx HCM database and see if any of them tested positive. Like pinupcats noted, it can skip generations. It can also just appear out of nowhere, too. *sigh* Such a miserable disease.

Not all cats that test positive for HCM are reported and listed on the database, which is unfortunate, many people don't want to report it because of the bad stigma that is attached to it. Like FIP, it happens. It's what precautions they take to prevent it (yearly scans, removing "at-risk" cats from their program) and how they handle it when it does happen that are most important, IMO.
 
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