X-Ray Help

I have a female domestic shorthair, neutered, about 9-10 yrs old, 7lbs. She was the runt of the litter and was apparently born in a barn. She has had a stuffy nose w/ occasional sneezing on and off her whole life. I recall taking her to the vet when I first got her to see what the issue was, and I feel as though the vet said she had feline herpes, and that is was unfixable/non treatable. Needless to say, it never really seemed to cause her much disturbance and I always wiped her nose clean for her during troubled times. 

This week I noticed her breathing looked deeper than normal by the indentations of inhaling and exhaling in front of her back legs. Her behaviour is still normal (active, loving, purring,etc.). I took her to the vet, and he did X-Rays on her. By looking at the X-Ray he told me that her heart appears to be pushed to one side (is usually in the middle), her trachea also appears to be pushed up (is usually straight), but he is not sure what is causing it. He said she may have been born like that and adapted, but it's hard to say with no comparison X-Ray from when she was younger. 

My options for further inquiry were quite expensive, and he told me to go home and think about it. He later showed the X-Rays to an ultrasound and cardiology specialist, but they could not come up with a plausible explanation. I thought I would post the X-Ray's here to see if anyone has experience or an opinion they could share.

Thanks for taking such good care of the runt. What's her name?

Technically and medically speaking, I don't know much about your X-rays, but it is very interesting. I just wanted to say that I personally have a sort of similar "abnormality." Two of my ribs fused together, which made my ribcage and lung smaller and as a result my heart just shifted in further to the middle of my chest (as opposed to the middle-left side) to sort of make up the difference. I am perfectly healthy and have no problems, at least to do with this. So its possible this is a similar congenital abnormality for your cat, though I am not any kind of expert on this.

Did the vet have any alternative ideas as to what could possibly cause this? Are all of her other organs appear to be in the right place (besides her heart and trachea)? My concern would be about the breathing problems you've observed.

I am interested to see if anyone else has seen anything like this before. I hope someone has!

Her name is simply Kitty
Thank you for your concern and interest and taking the time to respond to my post. I'm glad to hear that your "abnormality" isn't having any negative effects on your health, and if my cat is going through something similar, that she too has adapted happily thus far.
All her other organs are in place and appear fine. It could be a tumor pushing her heart and trachea, or an abscess (and possibly bleeding internally) !

Since she is eating and drinking normally, the vet said to wait over the weekend and call back on Monday for possible further actions.

I think @Artiemom has some experience with reading Human x rays so she may have some idea of what's abnormal in your cat's x rays.

Can your vet send the x rays to a veterinary radiolgist for review? I know you said the vet showed the x rays to an ultrasound and heart specialist but it won't hurt to get a radilogist's opinion as well. Here's one very well known vet hospital that your vet can request a consult and review from: https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/diagnostic-imaging-service/

HI!

While I was an x-ray technician in my last life (first career) and later went back to school for ultrasound tech, dealing with complicated pregnancies--I am not an expert. Take what I say with a grain of salt...please!!

I am wondering if this could just be a genetic thing--by what I am thinking of, it could just be something witch is normal for this cat.

In humans, there is something called: Dextrocardia (heart of opposite side) or a complete situs inversitus. That is a very complicated term for when the internal organs are on the opposite side of the body. This happens more than you would think. I wonder if cats can have this also. From my limited experience with cats, it seems that they can get all that us, humans do. 

If this is the case, then it could just be the heart, or a few more organs, as in: liver, spleen, stomach...It would take an ultrasound to completely diagnosis this.

The heart could also be normally located a bit more to the right side and turned a bit (levothorax). I have seen that also in pregnancies. 

If Kitty is not having any issues, then all is well.

Now, If I am Wrong, and there is a mass pushing things over to the right side, then I would think that would be serious.

Yes, I agree with @LTS3  ...You really need to send these x-rays to a real Radiologist (X-ray Doctor) for a full interpretation. They may suggest an echocardiogram or addition films with them, to rule things out...

Hopefully this helps, a bit...If I am wrong, then I really do apologize and I will "Hang up my shingle"

LTS3-- thank you for the kind thoughts....

Thank you @LTS3  for the support, same to you @Artiemom  !! (and you too, @sidneykitty  if you didn't see my previous response) 

I believe the vet did also send the X-Rays to his radiologist friend, if i'm not mistaken. I'll double check tomorrow when I call back. I was very surprised to hear than none of them had any idea of what could be going on.  Kitty really IS super special!l 

Unfortunately, her breathing was very loud last night, and wether it has to do with her heart and trachea being out of place or not, something is up. The vet suggested a tumour or abscess could also be what's caused the organs to be out of place, as well as his suggestion that she may have just been born like that. 

I'm talking to the vet again tomorrow about next possible steps, and I'll mention your opinions and keep you guys updated. 

Thanks again for taking the time to respond, it's truly appreciated. 

I wanted to add these close-ups so that the focus is on the area of topic (heart + trachea + whatever may be displacing them?) 

Good to hear you're/the vet is getting a radiologist to look at the x-rays! They'll hopefully have some more insights. Let us know what happens at the vet tomorrow and how Kitty is doing and wishing you both the best.