Worried and upset

[JessieCat]

I posted a thread a few days ago in Questions, about one of my Sphynxie girls (Narcissa) who has two lumps on her legs.

I took her to the vet today, along with her sister, Bellatrix, who had developed a wheezy chest and cough over the last couple of days.

The vet examined the two of them. They think there is a chance Cissy's lumps could be cancerous, and so I need to have them sampled and analysed. If they are cancerous, then surgery and treatment needs to be done.

She also discovered that Bella has a heart murmur, that is likely to get worse over time, and can cause heart failure. The cough may or may not be related to the murmur (fluid on lungs), but I first have to treat her with antibiotics in case she has a chest infection. If those don't work, steroids as an asthma treatment. If those don't work, then the cough is due to the murmur and is more serious.

As I'm sure you can understand, this has come as quite a shock and I'm so worried for my precious babies.

 

[Lickleone]

aawwwwweee :-( positive thoughts your way... hope all works out for your babies.. it is not nice to have sick babies one feels so helpless but try to stay positive it really does make a difference to the out come

 

[curlysue]

I will keep you guys in my thoughts..... Think positive!! I know it's had to do with this kind of news... Keep us posed on how they are doing.

 

[JessieCat]

Thank you both. I can't get Cissy's lumps analysed for around a week, but once they have been sampled you usually get the results back the same day. So, fingers crossed for that.

Bella's antibiotics last for this week, so *hopefully* there will be improvement in her cough by then, so obviously she will still have the heart murmur, but it will be less serious for the mean time until later on in her life when it definitely will deteriorate

I am trying to be positive, there is the chance that the lumps are NOT cancerous, and that Bella's murmur is less serious than it seems, but even so...I can't help but worry for them, I love them both so much.

 

[Inflamed]

O noes! That's a lot to deal with after one vet visit... Sending positive vibes & purrs your way! Keep us posted on the outcome of the tests and treatment for your babies!

 

[curlysue]

I would be right there with you on the worring!! I spent the past monthe worring with my cousin about her dog Emily. She took her in to get her yearly heartworm test and they came back telling her Emily had stage 4 liver cancer.. It is always scary taking our four legged babies to the vet.

Fingers, eyes, toes and legs crossed that they will be just fine.

 

[susi794]

Sometimes a heat murmur is only a heart murmur and never does anything-- or even goes away, so don't be too upset about that yet. Let the antibiotics do their job, clear up the wheezies and try to be calm. Sometimes the stress of being at the vet can cause murmurs. How does your vet know it will deteriorate with age without a scan? As for the lumps on their legs--I have no idea about those, but will remember you and your babies in my prayers. May they be something else entirely that is easily fixed. And if they are malignant, may it just be a matter of removing the lumps and that would take care of it.
Please do keep us posted. We'll be holding our breath and crossing our fingers, toes and paws for you.
Much love,
Susi and the gang

 

[muddpuddles01]

Definitely stay positive and try not to panic! Hopefully it will be nothing serious. I really hope your poor babies feel better soon!

 

[Mosey & Me]

Did they say what stage the heart murmur was at? It may be nothing too serious, I had a cat (Ari) that was very old and we discovered after he had other problems that he had a stage 4 heart murmur but the cardiologist said that it wouldn't cause problems as long as we kept his blood pressure down so you might ask the next time your at the vet for them to see what her blood pressure is...

Hopefully the lumps are not cancerous... But if they are I'm sure with where they are that removal would be a great success.

I know how it feels to go to the vet with the thought of the problem being nothing and it turning out being way worse than you thought... It's hard. Chin up!

Me, Mosey and Ella send hugs and cuddles your way. Keep us posted

 

[lunasmum]

Dunno if this will make you feel better but when I first got Luna she was very cheery coughing sneezing you name it, took her to the vet and was told she had a rather severe heart murmur, the breeder had told me she tested her before giving her to me, the vet told me to take her to a cardiologist ASAP, trusting my breeder I took her to another vet and was told she did not have a heart murmur at all, after almost 2 months of nasty coughing she finally recovered from her "chest infection" she recently got conjunctivitis not happy with my vets treatment I took her to a different vet and found she had a heart murmur after all however this time I was told it was small and nothing to worry about, so hopefully it goes the same way for you, I was told in most cases the murmur gets better with time. I hope it works out well for you and your little one just stay positive and give alot of tlc, love is the best medicine

 

[uzska75]

My family and I will be keeping your kitties in our thoughts. Keep us updated.
I wish them to be healthy and happy

 

[JessieCat]

Thank you so much, everyone. What a lovely place SphynxLair is! All your kind words have certainly helped me feel a little better. I've been giving my girls lots of love and hugs (just a normal day with Sphynxies then!)

The vet didn't say what stage the murmur was at - only that there was one and it was very likely to deteriorate as she aged. After this week, when the course of antibiotics is done, i'll be taking Bella back again anyway, so I shall ask some more about that, and get Cissy's lumps tested. Then I'll be able to update.

Thank you all again. CIssy and Bella are sitting with me now, both purring away, so they send their appreciation, too

 

[butterb33rs]

so sorry

 

[kristininn]

I'm so sorry to hear this! I can only imagine the worry...
As others have said, try and stay positive and know you and your girls have the love and support of everyone here!

 

[Nofuratu]

sorry to hear about all the problems you are having with your babies!

Hope your results come back negative for the leg lumps. Did the vet do a fine needle aspirate or a biopsy? I find you get better results with a biopsy instead of a fine needle aspirate (sticking a needle in and sucking out the cells). I had a cat with thyroid lumps and the fine needle aspirate came back negative for cancer. But when I did a biopsy we found out it was cancerous.

For the heart murmur, after you get all the chest infection problems checked out, if your cat still has a murmur you need to get an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) done by a cardiologist as your next step.

There is no way to tell if a murmur is just a benign murmur with no medical consequences, or if it is a real heart problem that will deteriorate just by listening with a stethescope! Also your vet says it will get worse with age. Usually cats with untreated, undiagnosed HCM do not live into OLD age, but it does get worse as they age.

An echocardiogram will tell you what the heart murmur is, and whether or not your cat will need heart meds. The reason it is important to find out, is if you catch it early and medicate early a heart problem can be slowed or even reversed in some cases! Whereas if you just leave it, and it is something like HCM your cat may not live long...past 5 or so years....but if its medicated it can live much longer.

I say all this because Nofuratu was diagnosed with a murmur around age 3 and I waffled with whether or not to get an echocardiogram done because they are expensive and he's neutered. I am not going to breed. Plus my breeder "says" she scanned his parents and they were negative.

I decided to save up and get a scan done so I would know for sure if his heart murmur was just a regular murmur or something worse. His scan revealed a grade 4/5 murmur and fast progressing HOCM. We started meds and he is 5yrs old now with no other symptoms. Waiting for his next scan to see the progression. If I had not scanned and medicated him when I did, he would not be alive now! Ive bought him more time with us. I also found out later his breeder lied to me and has other HCM positive kittens.

I dont mean to say all this to scare you, just to give you food for thought about what to do next. Getting an echo done may reveal no problems at all! And then you may feel better.

 

[JessieCat]

sorry to hear about all the problems you are having with your babies!

Hope your results come back negative for the leg lumps. Did the vet do a fine needle aspirate or a biopsy? I find you get better results with a biopsy instead of a fine needle aspirate (sticking a needle in and sucking out the cells). I had a cat with thyroid lumps and the fine needle aspirate came back negative for cancer. But when I did a biopsy we found out it was cancerous.

For the heart murmur, after you get all the chest infection problems checked out, if your cat still has a murmur you need to get an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) done by a cardiologist as your next step.

There is no way to tell if a murmur is just a benign murmur with no medical consequences, or if it is a real heart problem that will deteriorate just by listening with a stethescope! Also your vet says it will get worse with age. Usually cats with untreated, undiagnosed HCM do not live into OLD age, but it does get worse as they age.

An echocardiogram will tell you what the heart murmur is, and whether or not your cat will need heart meds. The reason it is important to find out, is if you catch it early and medicate early a heart problem can be slowed or even reversed in some cases! Whereas if you just leave it, and it is something like HCM your cat may not live long...past 5 or so years....but if its medicated it can live much longer.

I say all this because Nofuratu was diagnosed with a murmur around age 3 and I waffled with whether or not to get an echocardiogram done because they are expensive and he's neutered. I am not going to breed. Plus my breeder "says" she scanned his parents and they were negative.

I decided to save up and get a scan done so I would know for sure if his heart murmur was just a regular murmur or something worse. His scan revealed a grade 4/5 murmur and fast progressing HOCM. We started meds and he is 5yrs old now with no other symptoms. Waiting for his next scan to see the progression. If I had not scanned and medicated him when I did, he would not be alive now! Ive bought him more time with us. I also found out later his breeder lied to me and has other HCM positive kittens.

I dont mean to say all this to scare you, just to give you food for thought about what to do next. Getting an echo done may reveal no problems at all! And then you may feel better.

Thank you for the info! It's a lot to take in I get Cissy's lumps tested in a week, they aren't done yet, but the vet said she'll do a biopsy, so hopefully I'll get an accurate (and good) result from that. The vet also said that there is a specialist cardiologist that would be able to scan Bella's heart properly - for £500!! There is no way i can afford that at the moment She did also say that they would be able to do a chest xray if the antibiotics don't make a difference to the cough, and that may enlighten us a little more.

For now, all I can do is wait a week for Bella's meds to work (or not as the case may be) and for Cissy to have her tests done, so at the moment I'm trying to focus on my lovely ladies and not worry about what may or may not happen...

Again, thanks for everyone for your kind words, help and support. It really does help to hear from such kind fellow Sphynxie lovers

 

[admin]

Hope all goes well - please keep us posted.

 

[ElvirasMum]

Oh dear! Sounds like you had an awful time! I'm so sorry.
Elvira and I are sending lots of love, light, and positive vibes your way!!!
Best wishes for you and your two little ladies!

 

[Nofuratu]

Thank you for the info! It's a lot to take in I get Cissy's lumps tested in a week, they aren't done yet, but the vet said she'll do a biopsy, so hopefully I'll get an accurate (and good) result from that. The vet also said that there is a specialist cardiologist that would be able to scan Bella's heart properly - for £500!! There is no way i can afford that at the moment She did also say that they would be able to do a chest xray if the antibiotics don't make a difference to the cough, and that may enlighten us a little more.

For now, all I can do is wait a week for Bella's meds to work (or not as the case may be) and for Cissy to have her tests done, so at the moment I'm trying to focus on my lovely ladies and not worry about what may or may not happen...

Again, thanks for everyone for your kind words, help and support. It really does help to hear from such kind fellow Sphynxie lovers

I dont know where you are located, but you can shop around for echocardiograms. 500 pounds sounds like a lot for an echo if you are in the UK. Some cat clubs get cardiologists to do echos at their local cat shows. Also veterinary universities often do them. Sometimes travelling a bit will get you a much cheaper echocardiogram elsewhere, even in another country! If you are in europe you have a lot more options since countries are much smaller and closer together!

In Canada where I live, I have to travel 2 days and pay for gas, plus pay $50 to cross a bridge and pay for a motel to get a $350 echocardiogram. However I got a $400 echocardiogram in New Orleans while I was on vacation there which worked out to be much cheaper.

Best of luck and look forward to hearing how it all works out for you, good or bad, you will get a lot of support here.

 

[ZiggyStardust]

I agree with Nofuratu. If the murmur doesn't resolve with the antibiotic, an echo should be next. Ash is with us today because we got him echoed when the vet heard the murmur. Ash also has HOCM and is now on meds which have helped lengthen his life. 500 pounds does sound like a lot! I hope you can find some place cheaper. Sending prayers and good vibes that all will turn out fine!!

 

[magber]

I am so sorry. I might not have much knowledge to give you an advice, but I can tell you that we are here to support you and pray for you and your babies.

You are getting some great advices and I am glad that we have such resourceful site and so many knowledgeable people in it to help us when we need it the most!

Stay calm and positive!

Hugs!

 

[Galicka]

im so sorry to hear about your babies i hope everything is ok and its not as bad as it seems. keep us posted i will praying for your babies!

 

[ilovedirt]

Definitely get the echo done. One of my boys has a heart murmur (level 1-2/6) and is going in soon to get scanned. If the echo shows there is no issue with the heart, I would get some blood work done to rule out other problems...heart disease is not the only thing that a heart murmur could be symptomatic of. I wish you the best for both of your babies

 

[Graddydani]

Oh no! I'm so sorry about your babies. At least now you know and these worries will be over soon. I'm sending positive vibes and hoping that the lumps are benign and like everyone has said, the heart murmur is nothing to worry about. Huge hugs to your girls and you too. You're going to get through this to enjoy more naked love from your girls.

 

[kimmyhm]

I really hope your babies are both ok.