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Old June 20th, 2008, 09:46 PM
catnbudge catnbudge is offline
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Taking a cat's pulse and Tapazole for heartrate

This is further to my question regarding care for my cat Cherry, 16 year old, FIV positive and also with hyperthyroidism.

Cherry seems to do well with the interferon which she has been taking for years.

She was prescribed Tapazole when her hyperthyroidism was diagnosed. At first she had tablets. They worked too well but also made her very wary of us. Next we tried the ointment form rubbed inside her ears. She wasn't able to absord enough so we now give her the liquid form. Judging by the smell, it must taste horrible. She used to hide when she knew her meds were due. She has become resigned now and usually just cringes a bit!

By the scale our vet uses, normal blood levels would be 20-40. When first diagnosed she was at 65 and with the tablets went down to 22, which the vet felt a bit low for an older cat. The first blood test after the ointment use began showed levels of 74. We doubled the amount of ointment and then changed to the liquid as we couldn't seem to get the levels low enough.

Further tests, duplicated to verify the result, didn't seem to make any sense as they showed her levels as very low but her heartbeat still very high. The doctor at the lab and my vet decided that they couldn't rely only on her levels but had to go more by her symptoms. Has anyone else had this experience?

My vet has asked me to take her pulse and showed me how. I cannot feel anything and wonder if that might be due to the rapidity of her heartbeat which he estimates at over 300 beats per minute.

I just bumped up the Tapazole to 0.20 ml from 0.15 twice a day a week ago. It has helped with the vomiting. I am going to keep trying with taking her pulse. I would love to get this kitty's heartbeat where it belongs.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks in advance, catnbudge
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Old June 20th, 2008, 11:24 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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These 2 links have descriptions on finding a pulse and checking heart rate:
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto8.html
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/firstaid.html

I also sometimes try to check my cat's heart rate (he has HCM), but rarely succeed. Sounds like it takes a fair amount of practice.
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