Amelia health update

  

To start with a refresher or to catch up those who may not know, Amelia was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This rare disease typically goes undetected until it's too late and a pet drops dead unexpectedly. Thankfully, 2 years ago my vet heard a murmur in her heart and we had a heart ultrasound done and we caught it. This disease causes a thickening of the heart walls.  While we have not been able to reduce the thickness, with medication and proper monitoring we have been able to slow down the progression.

So, bringing this to the current moment, Amelia had her yearly heart ultrasound on Monday. In comparison to last year, the addition of a new medication has helped the blood flow and her left atrium has improved because of it. However, her left ventricular walls have continued to thicken. We've increased her medication and bumped her yearly ultrasounds up to every 6 months.

Knowing that we could have lost Amelia tragically 2 years ago if this went undetected makes every day with her a gift. She could be the furthest from the vision of a heart patient. She's happy, spunky, energetic, athletic and wiggles more than you've ever seen. Don't bother trying to tell her she has a heart condition, because she won't believe you.

We knew Amelia's life span would be shortened when we adopted her, but we knew in our home she would have the vet care that she needed. We also knew we had the ability to love her for however long we were graced with her joyful personality. Although the results we received on Monday weren't miracle words, I'm so happy her disease hasn't progressed as quickly as it could have. So, we're happy she'll be our little wiggle worm for another bit longer.