Ultrasound & MRI

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Mashauk - 17 Sep 2007 14:58 GMT

Hi

I haven't posted in here for years so sorry to intrude. I just
wondered if any of your cats had had either an ultrasound to check out
potential heart problems or an MRI after a seizure, and if so, how
traumatic was it for the cat? It's a long story and I don't really
want to go into all the details at the moment as I'm feeling a bit
fragile, I'm just trying to find out if it's traumatic/painful for the
cat before I decide whether or not to go ahead, he's 17 with diabetes,
kidney disease, possible heart murmur and had his first fit the other
night!

Thanks in advance for any info.

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cybercat - 17 Sep 2007 15:37 GMT

> Hi
>
> I haven't posted in here for years so sorry to intrude. I just
> wondered if any of your cats had had either an ultrasound to check out
> potential heart problems or an MRI after a seizure, and if so, how
> traumatic was it for the cat?

Ultrasound is really easy and painless. Our Boo had one after she had
fainting spells. They shaved her little chest and put gel on, then waved
the wand over her, same as they do for humans. Not at all scary or painful.
She was 11.

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Rene S. - 17 Sep 2007 16:39 GMT

No, it's not painful or traumatic for the cat. Like cybercat said,
they do need to shave the area and then apply gel to it. My Tucker had
one for his pancreatitis and did just fine. BTW, if you think it will
help, you can ask to be nearby while they perform the ultrasound. It
might help your cat (and you, so you can see what's going on) to be
there.

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Mashauk - 18 Sep 2007 22:56 GMT

Thanks. Hopefully he won't need the MRI as he's only had one seizure
(so far and hoping for no more) but think I will take him for the
ultrasound to see if we can find out what's causing the heart murmur.
With all his current vet visits and medication I just didn't want to
put him under any unnecessary stress, as we think that actually stress
may have caused the seizure the other day.

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cybercat - 18 Sep 2007 23:06 GMT

> Thanks. Hopefully he won't need the MRI

I don't even see how they could give a cat an MRI unless they put them
under.

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Mashauk - 22 Sep 2007 18:01 GMT

> > Thanks. Hopefully he won't need the MRI
>
> I don't even see how they could give a cat an MRI unless they put them
> under.

No I don't think they can, unless they sedate them heavily. My vet
said the ultasound would be more traumatic as he'd have to stay awake
for it, but then again the MRI would be traumatic because he'd be
anaesthetised, which I'm not sure is a good idea if he has heart
trouble! Anyway, hopefully he wont need the MRI now at least, as he
hasn't had another seizure, think I may have panicked somewhat (not
unusual for me)

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