Flowerbelle has high blood pressure

OK. We went for the follow-up blood pressure as Flowerbelle finished the doxycycline for bronchitis. ( Flowerbelle's turn: Heart problems? Asthma? Megacolon? )

Her BP was 200. Stan said if it was 180, he may not recommend this, but given her level of stress (which wasn't so bad! ), and that he DID hear a Level 1 heart murmur, if it were his cat, he'd use blood pressure medication.

He wants her on it for three weeks. We have a follow-up exactly three weeks from today, same time, same place. :lol3: If her BP is down to 140-160 with no murmur, we keep her on the medication with close monitoring. If it isn't down that much, or he still hears the murmur, then we go for an echocardiogram.

Otherwise she looked and sounded great! He heard NOTHING in her lungs - all clear. And she weighed 8 pounds - exactly what she weighed last month. So removing her kibble altogether last week in the switch to raw has not impacted her weight. Good to know I'm feeding her the right amount. In 2009, she weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces. :lol3: It wouldn't hurt if she lost SOME weight, but she's good.

Oh - the medication is Amlodipine Besylate. She's been prescribed 2.5mg. I'm about to go look it up. He said it is very "mild." :dk:

Oh - that 's the generic of Norvasc.

For those interested, a good article: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_amlodipine_besylate.html , and the companion article, http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_high_blood_pressure.html

Hi sweetie and loads of love and scritches to Flowerbelle for being such a good baby today at the vet. I am sorry about her BP but have no doubt she couldn't be in better hands with TWO loving parent's to care for her :heart3:. Let's just hope that the medication will lower the BP and maintain her so the heart murmur WILL go away. :cross: WOW she is a tiny little thing - 8 pounds..... so precious :rub:.....

I hope the blood pressure medicine works and you don't have to keep looking for answers.

Is it just me or is a feline blood pressure cuff not the most adorable little tiny medical device???     If I hadn't been so worried when they were taking Cleo's I would have laughed out loud. 

We didn't get to see the cuff! But I expect it is darn cute. :lol3:

We started her on the Norvasc this morning. The vet said it may make her sleepy for the first few days, but if she doesn't perk back up day 3 or 4, to stop the medication for a day or two, then start it again.

Good vibes for Flowerbelle that it works.

Did they take 10 or so readings?  Tha'st what they do when they take Sven's, because our Vet says just being at the Vet kind of stresses them out  (depending on the Cat...our Sven is pretty mellow and they still take 10), then they take the highest and lowest and average them out (I think).  

Anyway, that the medicine does the trick  

Thinking of sweet Flowerbelle.   

all, and thanks. :heart3:

They take 5. But they factored in her stress level in the decision. He said at 180 he might be inclined to let it slide - but not 200. She seemed quite relaxed while they were doing it. She was, in fact, purring and giving the vet tech kisses. :lol3: (Flowerbelle gives kisses, it's so sweet).

So far so good! I wouldn't call her lethargic - but she has slept most of the day. When she's up, she's VERY "Flowerbelle" - perky and pestering us. :lol3: And her appetite is just fine.

YAY Glad to hear that she is still her perky, darling self when she was not napping today :happy3: :rub: Hopefully then the medication won't make her to groggy and out-of-it. :cross: Extra loving vibes for sweet Flowerbelle tonight :rub: :rub: :rub: :rub: AND loads of for momma :heart3:

We were back for our follow-up today. Her BP is 72. Doc was SO HAPPY she responded so well to the Novasc! He can still hear the murmur. Definitely Grade 1 only, and the sound is of valve regurgitation, not a muscle problem. He advises we DO get an ECG within 3-4 months just to have a baseline. But he does not recommend the ProBNP test for her. It detects enzymes created by the change in heart muscle, and with the sound of her murmur combined with the GREAT response to the medication, he does not believe this is HCM.

She's lost 6 ounces in three weeks. He was wondering what would happen moving her to fully timed meals, raw food and no kibble. :lol3: He thinks this is great - not too fast - and was quite pleased. She did weigh 8 pounds when we went - but that was the anomaly. Over the course of her 8 years, as an adult, she's always weighed just under or just over 7 pounds. He doesn't want us to worry about pushing food at her.

OH! They brought the blood pressure thing into the room today. It was DARN cute! And she's so little, they had to use the smallest cuff. They were surprised she didn't react at all to the buzzer used to shave her leg... I hadn't told the technician she's deaf. :lol3: Such a good little patient she is!

AWWWWW My heart is just overjoyed at this update on our sweet little darling Flowerbelle. HOW CUTE the little, tiny BP cuff. I am extremely relieved to hear that the vet does NOT believe this is HCM You must be even more relieved than me :rofl:...but I really am thankful for this news and that the vet is not recommending the ProBNP test and only the EKG. LOVE the great reports :heart3: :bigthumb: A gentle and :rub: to Flowerbelle for being such a wonderful, willing little patient

Hi Laurie, I'm sorry to hear Flowerbelle has high blook pressure, but I'm glad to hear she is doing better with her bp medication  I've never seen the blood pressure thing for kitties, I can only imagine how cute it is haha  Aww Flowerbelle is such a sweet girl, it is amazing she is so good and happy when she visits the vet, my Lucas is very good at the vet, but he is not happy, he gets scared and he purrs a lot, but  it is because the poor baby is terrified.

I hope your precious girl continues to do so well

That is such good news!I hope it continues to go well for her.

Oh I have been wondering how she is doing....that is great news.  I am sure ;you feel like a weight has been lifted.  I think Fetchs BP is normal.  Never feel his heart when I lift him. 

You deserve good news.  Hugs to Flowerbelle!

OK! Flowerbelle has now seen all three of our vets. :lol3: They all agree - she needs to be on the Norvasc. She's settled in with a nice BP at 1/4 of a pill. Gary and I were worried about that low blood pressure. But the other two vet practices take the BP at her neck and then at her tail - and BOTH of them came up with higher numbers at the neck, and lower numbers at the tail. :dk:

What no one knows is WHY she has BP. Cats do NOT have blood pressure problems from cholesterol - it doesn't work that way in them. They don't get hardening of the arteries or clogged arteries. So far, they're all agreeing - it's most likely damage to her lungs from lung worm and herpes and is affecting her heart. This vet heard the murmur, and heard it on both sides of her heart. She said she can't hear Grade 1 murmurs, so it's probably a 2 or 3. BUT, she also said that in her experience, cats with murmurs usually don't have the same problems with HCM that cats without murmurs do!

She thinks that we'd be better off having an ultrasound of her heart done (by a cardiologist radiologist), NOT the ECG, that way they can see where the problem is and potentially what it is, and determine whether or not she needs the ECG.

This is probably the route we'll take. The cardiologist will send a tech to do the ultrasound at the machine of our vet. As we're 10 minutes away (7 in a hurry LOL), we wouldn't have to leave her there all day, either, because they don't give a specific time, just a day.

Well, three strikes and your IN.... At least you know they are all on the same page. I am sorry our sweet Flowerbelle has these issues but she couldn't be loved more by so many :heart3:. And, that is really good to know about the difference in cat's with murmurs not having those problems with HCM like a cat without a murmur does. Did I say that right :lol3: I like this plan on bypassing the ECG and doing the ultrasound first. Makes more sense to me . Give the little "rabbit" eater a big huge kiss from her auntie L tonight. :rub:

Totally confused here.

1. Why is there only one number for blood pressure?

2. What is HCM?

3.Why did Flowerbelle see three vets for the same problem?