Evangeline

Evangeline

When it came to choosing a Braveheart for November there really was only one animal that it could be. Unanimously voted for by all of the staff the winner this month is “Evangeline”, an absolutely stunning Maine Coon cat.

Evangeline was brought into the surgery by her owner and breeder as a kitten for her first vaccines in June of this year. As always the kittens receive a good check up at this time and it was then that when vet Ian listened to Evangeline’s chest he noticed that something wasn't right with her heart. She had an extraordinarily loud heart murmur, something which could be very serious. It was advised that she was given an ultrasound scan to diagnose her heart problem.

Evangeline was booked in for the day and Ian scanned her heart and took x-rays of her chest. Ian has a special interest in cardiology and so when he diagnosed that Evangeline had a very serious condition called Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) he was very interested but also very concerned. PDA is a condition where a blood vessel connecting the 2 major arteries leaving the heart, which should usually have closed off at about 2 days of age remains open.

Without surgery it was unlikely that Evangeline would live beyond her 1st birthday

Now there were decisions to be made. Without surgery Evangeline would die. Ian had never done this risky operation before but was very keen to try everything, especially as there was nothing to lose. Evangeline’s owner went away to have a think about what to do while Ian read every book he had and spoke to every cardiac specialist he knew about the possibility of doing the life saving surgery here.

About a month later Evangeline was starting to show signs of heart failure. It was really a do or die situation and so the decision was made to go ahead with the surgery.

Ian booked the surgery in on his day off so that he could give it his full attention, and nurse Jo was taken off of the general rota so that she could monitor what could potentially be a very tricky anaesthetic. Theatre was set up with all of the monitoring equipment we needed. Once under anaesthetic Evangeline’s heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, blood pressure, levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide and depth of anaesthesia were measured and recorded every 5 minutes so that Jo would recognise any potential problems before they took hold. Because the surgery involved going into Evangeline’s chest she would be unable to breathe for herself and so was placed on a ventilator throughout

The operation was very tricky and required a high level of concentration, Evangeline remained remarkably stable throughout, and vet Ian managed to tie off the PDA. It was very strange seeing her heart beating in her chest and the surgery took 3 HOURS!

A chest drain was placed to assist in her nursing after the operation and the nurses were amazed when Evangeline started to eat literally an hour after she had woken up!!

This special little cat spent the night over at PETS emergency centre for monitoring overnight and incredibly was sent home the following day after the chest drain was removed.

She continues to do well at home, this surgery will have ensured that she will live a normal life now. We are all very proud of Ian for going ahead with such a difficult operation and even prouder of Evangeline, apart from her shaved side you would never know what she had been through, she was in last week for a check up and Ian couldn’t hear her heart because she was purring so much.. Now THAT’S a result!

If you are interested in this breed of cat and would like to know where to get one, here is a link to Evangeline's owner and breeder www.kagoza.com
 

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