Hi FMLers,
 
I talked to Judi Bell on Friday (I'm aranging for her to give a vet talk at
our next club meeting) and had an interesting conversation with her about
stethoscopes.
 
Last summer, Libby who was 3 at the time, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
An xray showed a slightly enlarged heart, the vet heard a murmur (didn't
give me a grade) and said she had fluid in chest (I originally thought she
had a cold).  A heart ultrasound was normal, her chest cleared up with
Lasix, but he still heard a murmur.
 
Well, I switched vets after the nightmare with Angel, and had Libby
re-evaluated.  My current vet at Brockport Animal Hospital, Dr. Edwards,
uses a teeny tiny stethoscope for used for premie babies.  He heard
absolutely no murmur at all.  He also felt that using a regular stethoscope
could give abnormal sounds as they are too big.
 
Judi agrees - she said using a normal size scope is like using a scope on a
human with the diameter of a 55 gallon drum - the stethoscope needs to cover
the entire body of the ferret otherwise you most likely won't get accurate
sounds.  She also recommends use of the smaller scope on puppies and
kittens.
 
BTW - she agreed that Libby probably doesn't have cardiomyopathy - she's
acting way too good to have a heart problem, and Judi thinks she would be
more tired and more lethargic if she did have cardiomyopathy.
 
I thought this was interesting - check your vet's stethoscope - and vet's -
if you're not using the smaller scope, how 'bout switching?
 
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA
Rochester, NY
[Posted in FML issue 1518]