Caturday Art: Winter

Hello friends!  We are sorry we haven't been posting this week or visiting our friends.  If you follow Merlin's Facebook page, you will know that our mom started her new job this week.  Since she is still adjusting to her schedule, she hasn't had time to help us on the computer.  Hopefully as she settles in to the job and figures out her schedule, she'll have more time to help us again.

This week for Caturday Art with Athena we have another digital scrapbooking page.  The photo is from our visit with our mom's family over Christmas.

Made with Freezing from Ooh La La Scraps

In other news, Dragonheart could use some purrs today.  He goes to the vet today for some x-rays.  He is still congested and sneezing, and occasionally coughing, even after a ten-day course of antibiotics.  Since he has a heart murmur and mild/equivocal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, they want to figure out what is going on before trying any other medications.  So he is going in for x-rays this morning.  We will update when we are back from the vet, and when we have some news on what they think is going on.  Thank you for any purrs, prayers, and positive thoughts.

Update: 1109 EST - We are back from the vet.  Dragonheart fortunately did not need to be sedated.  He took his "happy pill" - Gabapentin - and that was enough to keep him still for the x-rays.  The good news is that it does not look like he has pneumonia.  The bad news is that because he is still congested and having nasal discharge, he needs to take a different antibiotic for the next 14 days.  Hopefully this will clear things up.  Thanks again for all your purrs and prayers.

Update 2: 1446 EST - So we have the radiology report back.  Basically we are going to see how Dragonheart does on the new antibiotic, and if there's no improvement, we will add an antiviral on Tuesday.  Some highlights from the radiology report (note that Dragonheart is due for his heart scan in the spring, which is a good thing given some of the cardiac issues noted on the x-rays):

FINDINGS: There is pericardial fat accumulation best observed on the right lateral view.  Cardiac silhouette is moderately enlarged...  There is a mild bronchointerstitial pattern consistent with the previous diagnosis of feline asthma.  There is no evidence of cardiogenic pulmonary edema or bronchopneumonia.  CONCLUSIONS: –The mild bronchointerstitial pattern present within the lungs is consistent with the previous diagnosis of feline asthma.  There is no evidence of cardiogenic pulmonary edema or bronchopneumonia.  The upper airway pathology is likely the source of the patient's current clinical signs. –Compensated cardiomegaly most likely due to previously diagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 

So while it's not great news, it's not horrible news either.  Thanks again for your purrs and prayers.