Patches was thrown into a desperate situation when her owner died suddenly and there was no friend or family member to take her in.The owner’s neighbor, who is not fond of cats, was kind enough to make an effort to find a place for Patches.She called many shelters and rescues, but no one was willing to take Patches, as she was 10 years old.Tabby’s Place was her last hope.We were glad to have Patches join us, as she is a sweet cat with a lot of personality.During her intake examination we discovered that Patches is hyperthyroid.Hyperthyroidism is a common disease of older cats and is caused by overactivity of the thyroid glands, which control the body’s metabolic rate.Untreated hyperthyroidism can lead to other serious, even fatal, diseases.Fortunately, hyperthyroidism is easily treated by the administration of a small pill twice per day.

During a later routine examination, our vet detected a faint heart murmur in Patches.Heart murmurs can be innocent, but we do not like to take a chance with heart disease, so we did an ultrasound, whichshowed that Patches had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).Heart disease can be caused by hyperthyroidism and we suspect that Patches’ hyperthyroidism remained untreated long enough to cause the changes to her heart.It is impossible to predict the course of HCM.The disease may progress rapidly, or it may stabilize for a long period of time.A cat with mild HCM (such as Patches) may enjoy a normal life for a number of years.Patches has no symptoms at this point and requires no medications.

We have quite a few cats with heart disease and most of them live in the suites with many other cats.Patches, however, did not do well in a suite: she stopped eating, lost weight and became severely dehydrated.So, Patches has been upgraded to a semi-private room: she lives in the Lounge with Lillian.Patches is very happy to live in the Lounge, as she just loves human food (employees and volunteers often eat their lunch in the Lounge).In the photo above, you see Patches hoping to find some edible scraps on the table.Patches is a sweet cat with an engaging personality.We hope that she will be adopted, but we know that her heart disease reduces her chances significantly.Please consider sponsoring dear Patches and help us to care for her.