Last week I shared about Toulouse and his heart murmur. This week we have an update and cat dad news.
Toulouse has been referred to a cardiologist, Apex Cardiology, at Massey University which is near Palmerston North. Of course the specialist rang up while I was at the hairdressers so cat dad had to arrange the appointment. Of course he made it for 9.30 a.m. with us needing to make a 90 minute drive…
Toulouse is thriving. He is not sickly and is causing as much mayhem and mischief as he usually does, especially tormenting his sisfur Miranda. He is even taking his medicine like a champion.
What We Know
According to the ultrasound he has, unusually, an enlarged right Atrium and Ventricle. No, I was not sure so I went looking for a picture so we could all understand this better. It took forEVER i.e. I found scary, I found complicated, or I found downright intimidating images until l I came across a helpful cat/dog post at Tufts – Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals.
- Click this link.
- Look for the Drop Down Bar ‘How the Heart Works‘
- Open this bar for an easy to understand diagram.[Not icky, it’s an illustration]
DID YOU KNOW? A cat (or dog) heart is a 4-chambered muscle that pumps blood through the body. The chambers of the heart are the right and left atrium and the right and left ventricle. Between the chambers are valves (flaps of tissues) that prevent the backflow of blood.
Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals.
So in a couple of weeks we will be up before the birds and on our way north! Toulouse will sleep most of the way thanks to Gabapentin and I will report in due course. Toulouse is doing fine, and we are keeping a very positive outlook.
Cat Dad News
In other upbeat family news. Cat dad Paul is, as many of your know, one of Britain’s foremost Crossword Setters and has set for one particular crossword – Independent (U.K.) for 36 years (Yes, you read that right!)
Abruptly, the newspaper decided to cancel its crossword and made a lot of people very unhappy. Paul is going to put his scheduled crosswords (he works many months ahead creating puzzles) up on his blog and has let the crossword community know which means his site is getting busier.
So, if you have any friends who love challenging cryptic crosswords, point them at Phidays on cat dad Paul’s crossword blog. He is also on BlueSky as part of the crossword community there as PhiPedro.
Cat Photographer, Instructor and Writer
Professional Member of the Cat Writers Association,
Winner of the Kuykendall Image Award
Published at the Guardian newspaper
Purrs continue for Toulouse. We’ll check out the crosswords!
It sounds like you are in good paws, have the right information and will have a good solution soon.
I have to say you have such marvellous pictures of him.
I saw Paul’s blog post, and think that it was short sighted of the Independent. But there loss may well be Paul’s gain if people head to his site.
Have a very good week…
ERin
I hope Toulouse’s heart consult goes well. Good that he is being perfectly normal in all his doings.
What a. bummer for your hubby, Paul. I don’t do crosswords, but I hope he can continue for a long time on his blog. That was a great idea to get them there, so that his fans can still have their challenges.