Today I took my 4 year old black cat into the vet for his annual exam and vaccinations. He seems to be behaving the same as usual - I thought he was maybe a little thinner than normal, but that was about it.

The vet did say he was a pound lighter. He also had dandruff, which she said would be re-mediated with a food that had higher fatty acid levels. We had been experimenting with some new foods, but I think we'll go back to Avoderm, which is really good for the coat and what the cats had been on initially. I'll also be feeding them more to fatten them up a little.

But then, the vet also noticed my cat had a heart murmur. She said it's rarely benign and most commonly hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. But that the only way to know for sure is to have an ultrasound of the heart done, which runs around $400. She said there's a specialist that comes to the area about once a month and does it, if I was interested.

She said that usually we don't start treating this condition until the animal goes into heart failure but that she's been following the work of a doctor in Texas who has had success in treating this condition with a specific medication regimen, and that many cats have gone on to live 15-16 years.

I don't know how I feel about this. I've always been for treating specific incidences, but I've never had an animal with a chronic condition. I don't know that I feel it's right to treat animals with chronic conditions - forcing them to take meds all the time, bringing them in for tests frequently. Maybe without that they'll live shorter lives, but they'll be happier ones? If I thought my animals were suffering I would put them to sleep. I've had to do this with two previous cats one with end stage FIP, and the other with end stage cancer (their illnesses showed themselves pretty suddenly and we didn't know they were sick until there was nothing we could do about it). Right now Colbert seems his normal self - he plays with the other cats, has a good appetite, etc.

My husband doesn't trust vets, and told me he's, "not going to be one of those crazy people with drugged up animals."

Then there's the financial concern - $400 is a lot of money for one test. I can work overtime to pay for it though. I'm not sure what the medication regime would look like either.

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what's too much or not enough in this case. Right now the vet wants me to start him on 1/4th of a baby aspirin every three days to prevent blood clots because of the murmur.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Jessica