Milo

Milo was a quiet Ragdoll, sleeping more each day,
Slower on his hind limbs, drifting farther from play.
Then came the sudden change that no one could ignore,
Open-mouth breathing, coughing, and pacing on the floor.
Verse 2
The stethoscope found crackles where healthy lungs should be,
A murmur in the chest, a heart working urgently.
Jugular veins distended, pulses weak and thin,
Hypothermia, bradycardia—signs trouble had set in.
Verse 3
Inside the ventricles, the muscle walls had grown,
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had changed the heart he’d known.
A ventricle that should relax instead became stiff and tight,
Making blood flow difficult through the day and night.
Verse 4
When blood swirls too slowly in the enlarged left atrium,
Clots can form silently within that hidden chamber’s room.
One clot traveled downstream, lodging where the aorta divides,
An aortic thromboembolism that stole strength from his hind sides.
Bridge
The CBC was reviewed, the clinical signs aligned,
Heart failure, clotting, and poor circulation combined.
Each finding told a story the veterinary team could trace:
A struggling heart, compromised lungs, and reduced perfusion in his pace.
Final Verse
Milo was more than diagnoses written in a chart,
More than ventricles, thrombi, or a failing heart.
He was a companion, a patient, a life worth every fight,
And every careful breath he took mattered through the night.