Rumi arrived at just four weeks old with her seven siblings, growing and thriving like any normal kitten. It wasn’t until her spay surgery that a hidden danger was revealed. Shortly after being placed under anesthesia, she began struggling to breathe. X-rays revealed a rare congenital condition called peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia, where her liver and gallbladder had slipped through a hole in her diaphragm into the sac surrounding her heart. As a kitten she had adapted remarkably well, but anesthesia caused those organs to press against her heart and lungs.
Surgeons moved her organs back into place, repaired the diaphragmatic defect, and completed her spay all in one procedure. The very next day, Rumi was back in her foster home purring and playing, blissfully unaware of what she had just been through.
