Cat X Ray

Could someone read a cat X Ray I have please.  Many thanks :)

Hello!  Who is the cat and why would you like us to read it, please?  Context is very important and usually the vet who interprets the x-ray has he context of a history and examination, will know the lung sounds and temperature, will have seen the breathing position of the cat and would ideally have looked at the chest from more than one view, as things can look very different from different perspectives.   I wonder whether this cat might have a diaphragmatic hernia or very unusual tumour. However making diagnoses out of context is inappropriate and beyond the scope of this site.

Thanks for your reply. she has become our cat recently. Apparently a diaphamic hernia she had prior which has healed over. The cat has breathing problems, Im wondering if the left lung shows anything which indicates this ? I cant read x rays myself hence why I am asking. I will upload another x ray. Thank you.

Thankyou for this - and for the second view, which is helpful.  I still don't understand the context of this question - if it's a second opinion you're after, the convention is to ask your vet who will arrange a specialist in the subject to look one out for you. People are sometimes scared to do this but in actual fact, vets like asking for second opinions - if people agree with us, it helps to strengthen your faith in us and if they don't, we improve our knowledge, so everyone wins either way.  I think you're asking me whether old diaphragmatic herniae can recurr - and yes, they can and they do cause dyspnoea, which is a posh word for difficulty breathing.  Herniae can become chronic - bad when the guts are in the chest (in the way of the lungs opening!) and better when the lungs are in the abdomen.  However even chronic herniae can prove fatal and generally, surgery is  reccommended in most cases.   I hope that something there is useful.

(Sorry, to be clear - in some chronic (long'running) hernia cases, the guts can slip back and forth through the hole in the diaphragm affecting the severity of the breathing, so it sometimes can be very bad when the guts are in the chest, and then seem to improve when the GUTS (not lungs) are in the abdomen, but it is never guarenteed that they will improve again because loops of gut etc can get stuck and dyspnoea can sometimes get too much and prove fatal).  However, as ever, your vet knows more about whats going on in your individual cat than I do.  I hope that something here is helpful.

Thank you I really appreciate your replies. I was wondering if the left lung area on the x- rays showed pneumonia or perhaps pleurisy. Its a bit cloudy but I have no idea. It has transpired she has a bad infection, currently waiting for lab culture to grow apparently for correct antibiotics to be given.    

Hello again. The context of my question - There was not much info that came from the Vet re the X-Rays. She didnt state there was an infection in the lung area. However now it transpires my cat does have an infection and I wanted to know please if there is any evidence of infection, pneumonia or pleurisy on the X-rays. Thank you.    

It sounds as though you want a second opinion on a radiograph.  We don't give those, I'm afraid - when getting a second opinion, the form is to go to someone either more experienced or specialised than your previous vet, otherwise - if one vet thinks one thing and one another - how will you judge who is correct? - where as if the vets are discussing it together, debating ideas with one another, or if there is an established heirarchy of experience (eg one is an established radiologist), then second opinions can be quite beneficial.  In a case where there looks to be a hernia, the medical exam, history and radiograph would be used together to make a diagnosis. My first thought from glancing at this was to suspect diaphragmatic hernia, but of course I have not examined the patient.  I was just returning to explain that having checked an external source, it seems that when there is history of a long-running chronic diaphragmatic hernia,  vets may increasingly decide against operating on the basis of chronicity - the cat having survived already with a hernia for quite some time.  Another interesting point of discussion is that the anatomy of a cats' chest can look extremely peculiar with a hernia, because nothing is where it is meant to be.   Pleurisy simply means inflammation of the pleura, which may not be surprising in the event of a diaphragmatic hernia and is not a word I hear used very much in veterinary medicine.

In herniae, loops of intestine / abdominal organs often pass through a hole in the diaphragm and go to sit in the chest.  These can leave abnormal shapes and patterns throught the chest.  Sometimes these might look a bit like inflammation or fluid.  Fluid, pus, inflammation and orans in the wrong place can all show up as 'white.'  Herniae also all look different from one another - you may find an internet Image- search interesting.