-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

It started yesterday with the traditional game of catch the kitty
after we brought the carrier up from the basement. This included
a couple laps around the house and, of course, pulling out every
chair under the dining room table as TK jumped from one to the
other. Finally, a sneak attack as he rounded the corner of the living
room had him squirming in my arms, and gnawing on my wrist as
I incarcerated him in the carrier.
The 1 1/2 hour drive to Tufts was uneventful and included the standard
10 minutes of complaining when TK realized that this was the long
trip and not the 15 min. vet trip.
Last year he was nothing but trouble during the ultrasound. He wouldn't
stay still. Squirmed, kicked, swiped, and nipped. We were warned
that this year he might have to be sedated.
At Tufts, he had the standard pre-echo checkup from one of the
students and wasn't too unruly. We let him climb back in his carrier for
the 15 min wait to get in to the ultrasound room.
When we got in for the echo, they were prepared to immediately
sedate our wildcat. My wife and I expressed our reluctance to have
him sedated and they agreed to try the ultrasound without sedation.
We dragged him out of the carrier and turned him over to the two students
charged with holding him on the table while the cardiologist did the
exam. He was laid down on his side, shaved, and the exam began.

If we hadn't been with TK the whole time, I would have thought they
switched cats on us. He was such a good boy. A few little movements,
but for the most part, he stayed quite still and didn't complain much
about being restrained. To the credit of one of the students, she seemed
to know just the right time to lean over his face, talk to him, and give him
a little face rub to keep him calm (we found out later that she has 6 cats).
Anyway, the exam was quick and low stress for all concerned.

The results.......virtually unchanged from last year.
At last year's exam, TK's Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy had regressed
to the point where it was just barely considered HCM. Improved from
the previous year where it was considered to be "moderate". So his
treatment is going to stay the same at 30mg diltiazem ER once a day
and an 81mg aspirin twice a week. The cardiologist told us that the aspirin
isn't absolutely necessary, right now, since the doppler is now showing minimal
turbulence, but suggested continuing with it since he's doing so well and
his blood test shows no kidney problems. Basically, if it ain't broke...don't
fix it.
So there's a good chance he'll be with us for another year.

As to why he was so calm for this exam as compared to last year. We had a
different cardiologist...a woman. The two students.....both female. I've always
suspected that TK had a bad experience with a male human, either as a stray
or with whoever abandoned him. I remember the first time he saw me holding a
beer bottle about three months after we took him in. There was a look of
absolute terror in his eyes. I can only guess what that cat had been through
before he showed up in our back yard. It's probably a good thing that I don't
know because I would, quite likely, hurt someone really bad. But, I think, being
in a room with four women, and me (who he now knows would never hurt him),
was much less threatening to him.

And again this year, I'd like to thank everyone who had offered good wishes
and advice, especially Phil P. who gave me a good bit of his time to help
decypher, translate,and explain, the first ultrasound report, giving me a much better
understanding of TK's situation than I would have ever have been able to
get on my own.

Thank You