Cardiomyopathy testing: the tests start with things like listening to the
heart and doing an x-ray, both of which your vet did.  If it's hyperplastic
= dilative cardiomyopathy then it shows up pretty well to very well, I
gather.  Had one with once with what was called possible pre-cardiomyopathy
(which later did develop into cardiomyopathy in short course) because it
was early enough to be obvious that there was a problem and there was
ascites, but it had not progressed to the point to where it was clear
exactly what was happening.  She also turned out to have other health
problems simultaneously as well as a heart tumor in addition to
cardiomyopathy.  That's been our experience as non-vets and what we've
heard.  Hypertrophic is harder to be completely sure of through x-ray, I
gather.  The next step, which helps with completing the diagnosis and lets
the vet know details that determine which meds are needed when is to have
an ultrasound of the heart.  It's not something which can be casually
diagnosed, though some things can lead a person to suspecting it is there
like ascites, exhaustion, etc.  The problem is that those symptoms happen
with other things, too.
 
There seems to still be some confusion about amateur science.  Steve is a
professional scientist in one area but is known for some of his outstanding
amateur work.  He's a boffin in those fields (though he's so modest he'd
say he isn't).  We also know and have known a number of boffins thorough
the years.  A boffin is someone who is not formally educated in a given
field but who excels in it.  The most common characteristic of a boffin is
a hunger for information (NOT for attention).  If a boffin wanted to study
a question for instance, the way it would come up would be in conjunction
with extensive reading on the topic, then loads and loads of personal
communications (pers.  coms.) with people who are experts in the field, and
much more reading of suggested sources, then more pers.  coms.  Shy ones
might not have the (or many) pers.  coms., but they read, learn, observe,
compare, read, read, observe more, refine, read, learn, learn, learn first,
and at least ask questions of experts, etc.  I know there is the MYTH that
total novices come into science and totally change things -- that they
just produce earth-shattering work without laying any foundations for
themselves, but -- pardon my language -- that's complete pop-media bull
s*&t.  I think that the fantasy comes partly from so many people never
bothering to learn much about science or the math which supports it -- is
it's very skeleton.  These things don't arrive by osmosis no matter how
much anyone would like them to do so.
 
Each and every one of you has something you know better than just about
anyone here.  Would you expect some newcomer with no prior knowledge or
very little of that to arrive right off the streets and equal or excel you?
Of course not!  Then why believe this fantastic myth?  People LIKE to
forget that the heros who were or are boffins did their homework, and did
it for the sheer love of it.  Heck, a very important boffin just recently
died.  Can't think of her name right now -- was it Hedy Lammar?  Yes, a
famous "sex symbol" relaxed by learning all she could and being one of the
developers of a very essential technological field.  She didn't do it by
being pretty or having publicity; she did it through dedicated work and
great brain-power.  Basically, she LOVED the topic so she made a point of
learning all she could about it.  Boffins go out of their way to acquire
and devour the knowledge for which they hunger; they don't just burst onto
the scene and make changes.  Although he's not a science boffin, here's an
example of a boffin.  Note the 5 years of planning before the 10 years of
work: http://www.johnegerton.co.uk/cmcc/ferrari312.ram
 
It is INSULTING to professionals in a field ( in the case in point to
people like Bob Church) as well as to the true boffins in that field to
think that just anyone who wants to do amateur science is going to do work
that has value.  I've seen a LOT of truly interested high school kids who
do far, far better work than adults who decide that they want to do a
"study".  The first and most important question may well be "What have you
learned about the topic so far?" If the person says there is nothing to
learn then that's a major danger signal.  The ferret dental questions has
actually been studied by reputable people who have the exceedingly precise
equipment and the rest handy to use, but even it hadn't been dental wear is
a question which has filled SHELVES of books for decades -- it's NOT by any
stretch of the imagination a new question so the person would say then that
for a given animal it hadn't been looked at but in general on reading Kay,
and Simon, and Peabody, and, and, and, and, and...
[Posted in FML issue 2941]