We think it is congenital. I don't know of anything she's gone through since I had her that would cause trauma resulting in a hernia. I've seen her take some big leaps and fly across the room to land awkwardly on something, but I don't think those had that kind of impact.
I'm going to talk to her primary vet soon. I've now spoken to several vets, and they are all advising caution. I just don't want her symptoms to get worse (ie her to feel worse or to be threatened). We're going into an awkward few weeks with a holiday and some issues I'll have with getting her to surgery. We'll either need to do surgery in the next week or two, or she'll have to wait a few weeks. On Tue, Jun 25, 2013, at 04:30 PM, dlg...@windstream.net wrote: > HOW is Ember doing? > Is this a congenital thing? > > ---- Lance <lini...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > > My 11 year old FeLV+, Ember, was diagnosed with a congenital > > peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia after CT scans and a consult > > between a surgeon and a radiologist. > > > > So far, her symptoms haven't been too scary: rapid breathing (but not open > > mouth breathing or panting) and an odd posture she sometimes assumes where > > she will "stand" with her forelegs and lie down with her back legs. This > > tells me that she might be having some discomfort (one lobe of her liver is > > involved in the hernia). She settles into lying down without problem, and > > she rests normally. > > > > The symptoms have only begun in the last few months, as far as I know > > (Ember and I weren't in the same part of the world for almost a year). We'd > > been fearing cancer, so this would seem to be good news. > > > > The surgeon is gung-ho to take care of business, and he has an excellent > > reputation with a lot of experience and education. However, I just spoke to > > one of Ember's two vets about this, and he said, "If she were my cat, I > > don't think I would do it." He's concerned about moving the liver, and more > > importantly, about the surgeon having enough to work with when the hernia > > is likely congenital. > > > > Has anyone on the list had experience with congenital hernias in cats? I'd > > really like to get some more input before I make a decision. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Lance > > _______________________________________________ > > Felvtalk mailing list > > Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org > > http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org > _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
