Izzy had her ultrasound and she does have signs of early heart disease. She behaved really well, and they didn't need to sedate her (bless her!).
I'm weriting this all here so that I have a record of it that I can easily find later.
The heart beat is good, there's not much leakage yet. There is thickening of the left ventricle (over and above the normal additional thickness vs the right ventricle). The papillary muscles are thickening.
We've caught it very early, it's just outside the normal range, and that, coupled with the newly discovered murmur, is enough to give a diagnosis. It's a progressive disease, and the biggest risk for Izzy is that, untreated, the blood flow becomes more restricted, less blood to the brain, more fits, and the problems they bring.
The good news is that we can slow that progression down by giving her medication in the form of Fortakur (sp.?). This is an ACE inhibitor, which has an effect on the small arterial muscles, reducing the rate of "remodelling". It isn't fixable, but it is manageable.
She's at the Vet once a month for a B12 injection anyway, so it'll be easy enough to keep her monitored.
I asked how we can tell if things are getting worse, and the Vet said to monitor her respiritory rate. When she's asleep her breathing should be almost impercebtible (I should have mentioned her snoring), and should be at the rate of abot 20-30 per minute If it gets to 40 a minute then that's a serious problem and we should call the Vet immediately, even if it's out of hours.
