Congestive Heart Failure

amandag1

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My dear ragamuffin kitty is only 2 years old and was taken to the vet ER last night. They found significant fluid build up in his lungs and he had labored breathing. I noticed he wasn't eating well Friday and took him Sunday evening.

Has anyone dealt with managing cats with CHF and heart failures? The vets are telling me that if he can be controlled on medication it may only be 6 months- 1 year, that typically they dont do well on home medications.

He is in oxygen therapy now and received IV lasix..... I feel so so so so so terrible and heartbroken. I know cardiac disease is a silent killer for cats.... what should I do?
 

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Hi. I am so sorry. I know I have seen many threads about CHF on this site. I am hoping over the next day or two, those members who have knowledge about this with their cats will see your post and offer their input. Hang in there, and check back often for new responses.

In the meantime, I believe there is a forum I saw awhile ago that has a section for feline heart disease. Maybe you could look into joining it?

Feline Heart Disease

And, maybe some articles related to it, that you might not have yet seen?

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in Cats

Feline Congestive Heart Failure
 
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amandag1

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Thank you. I see there are other threads here about CHF. Has anyone had to have fluid drained from their cat? The vet didn't offer this option to me and just stated that IV diuretics and oxygen therapy should be first line right now.
 

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I'm so sorry about about your kitty!
Mine also had CHF. When we first brought him to the vet, they drained his chest right away. But in his case, there was so much fluid that we had no choice. I wonder if the reason they aren't draining the fluid is because he is not "full".
They drained over 300mls out of my boy's chest and there was still some fluid left, but they had hoped that the medication would take care of the rest.
When you say, IV diuretics..does this mean your kitty is still at the vet? I really hope the diuretics work for your kitty.
We were able to bring ours home after the draining, but he was put on several different heart medications. We treated his CHF very aggressively because his heart was seriously, about to fail. Unfortunately, 3 months later, the fluid came back (meds weren't working efficiently) so we had his chest drained again. That is when the vet mentioned that the diuretics were not working and would not work, but that if the other meds started to get his heart pumping properly again, that chest tapping would be viable option while his heart got stronger. The reason for the diuretics not working is that the vet said our boy's fluid was very cellular (had other forms of body fluid/blood and cells in it). Unfortunately, a week later he threw a blood clot, so we had to let him go.
I know my boy did not make it, but by all means, feel free to ask me anything about my experience. We did and tried so much during that 3 month period, that I would have to write a book to tell you everything in this post, and some of the information may not be relevant, so just ask, I'm happy to share.
 

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Thank you. I see there are other threads here about CHF. Has anyone had to have fluid drained from their cat? The vet didn't offer this option to me and just stated that IV diuretics and oxygen therapy should be first line right now.
our cat, jeep, had his chest tapped many times over about eight months. it allowed him to breathe easily immediately, and he didn't require oxygen. every time he'd swell on his sides or start to develop a little cough, we'd head off to get his chest tapped. once the fluids were removed, his sides went back to their normal shape and his breathing eased.

btw, our regular vet immediately referred us a cat/dog multi-specialty group after jeep was diagnosed with a CHF (a rare kind usually found in dogs), so from then on out, jeep was seen by only cardiologists for his heart issues.

jeep was on lasix, a small dose of a dog heart medication, a tiny every-other-day dose of aspirin and i can't remember what else but several more meds. mostly he was fine with the meds if we mixed them with the juice from cans of fancy feast fish flavors.

he lived about eight more months (he was eight years old when he was diagnosed), but he didn't have to struggle to breathe in that time, so lived a happier life except when at the vet.
 
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amandag1

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Hi everyone
Thank you so much for your replies.
Louie my beautiful ragamuffin is only 2 years old.
I'll write out the full story here...
Louie is a very very anxious kitty and it took him months to even warm up to us and his new home. He came from another state at a Ragamuffin cattery.
He's been with us since last fall, and the past few months hes really developed his own personality but still very scared and cautious.
He normally eats Weruva or Tiki cat chicken flavors , 2 cans a day and has Origen dry food dispensed in portions with an automatic feeder. Normally he runs to his feeder when he hears the signal and always finishes his wet food.
On Friday, I noticed he was being fussy with it and wasnt eating it.
I didn't think much of it....stupid me and thought he'd just eat it later.
We had to leave out of town for the weekend, and since Louie really prefers quiet and solitude hes totally okay on his own for a Sat/ Sun with his auto-feeder and fresh water.

We came back Sunday and Louie was crouched under the coffee table, really looking ill and not moving much. He sounded like he was panting a bit, but his mouth wasn't open. We immediately took him to the ER vet, where they put him in oxygen due to labored breathing and chest xrays showed alot of fluid buildup inside the lungs, some outside of the lungs.
They said that Ragdoll/fancy breeds are more prone to CHF and heart problems....and after bloodwork came back it was pretty obvious he didnt have an infection.
Cardiologist saw him the next morning. He stayed in the ER under oxygen and IV lasix.
This was Sunday night.
Ive talked to the cardiologist twice, and they tell me that prognosis is overall grim for all cats who've experienced failure and the goal is to get the fluids off via diuretics and get him on home medications for whatever time he has.
I am a WRECK about this because he is so so so young and was just getting to be such a joy with us.
He is still in the ER, isn't much at all, I did visit and bring him some of his canned food which he took a few bites but not really interested.
Chest xrays from yesterday and today look to be improving but still the cardio says his lungs still sound bad and he needs to remain in oxygen therapy.

I feel horrible. Where did we go wrong? What can we do?
I can't stand the thought of euthanasia. I had another cat pass naturally after 12 years, Ive never experienced putting any animal to sleep. I think I really wouldn't be able to tolerate it. Please share your experiences and anything will help me.
 

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you didn't do anything wrong. the vet said ragdolls are prone to CHF, and even if he/she hadn't said that, there's very little to nothing we as cat friends could do to cause this.

it's sad, it's tragic, and it's absolutely not your fault!

i'm not sure my experiences will help you as genetics plays a large role in health. jeep died at eight of CHF, while a different cat from the same feral colony died a few years older of something unrelated. our current cat - not from the feral colony - is over 20, and with all his issues, he's pretty chipper for an elderly gentleman.

our cardiologists did not keep jeep in the hospital at all, and as i said, they tapped his chest right off. your vet may have reasons for approaching this differently.

i have only euthanised animals who were suffering with something that wouldn't go away and whose quality of life was also pretty much gone. to me, i was able to cope with it because things were awful for the pets that i felt we were saving them from pointless misery and suffering.

btw, we didn't put our CHF cat to sleep; jeep passed away while sitting with me, purring as i petted him.
 
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amandag1

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:( I just cant deal with the panting and not moving. It makes me so so so sad. I asked the vet about why the fluid can't be drained and they told me because Louie's buildup is inside his lungs versus outside, it cannot be drained and can only be removed through diuretics.
 

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Have they started him on any of the heart medications yet? When my vet sent us home after draining his chest, she told me that the heart medications would also (hopefully) help with the fluid if the heart would start functioning better therefore preventing more fluid from retaining.
I know you mention that they are focusing on getting rid of the fluid, but based on what my kitty went thru, the heart meds were part of the overall treatment for the fluid as well.
 
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amandag1

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I will ask about that....thank you. Do you recall what meds your kitty was taking?
 

Jem

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Hank was on:

Vetmedin - strengthens heart contraction and relaxes blood vessels. (2x a day)
Furosemide - diuretic (2x a day)
Clopidogrel - blood thinner (anti-platelet) (1x a day)
Diltiazem - blood pressure and arrhythmia (calcium channel blocker) (3x a day)
Enalapril - dilates blood vessels (ACE inhibitor) (1x a day)

Hank was also on: (not related to the heart)

Mirtazapine - appetite stimulant (once every three days)

Near the end he was also put on potassium, but it caused a lot of stomach upset and interfered with his eating (which was more important) and because his potassium was not that low, I only gave it to him in low amounts.

With this many medications, and the fact that I could not hide all that in food, considering it was really a hit or miss if he would even eat, I had to pill him myself.
To make it easier, I went to a pharmacy that did compounding and bought empty capsules (it was only about 6 bucks for 100 capsules). I then cut and crushed his doses according to when they needed to be taken and put them in either one or two capsules (his morning dose of meds did not fit in just one capsule). And pilling him was much better, only having to shove one or two capsules instead of, up to, 6 quarter or half cut pills individually.
I also dipped the capsules in water first, as they became slippery and made them go down better as well.
 

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Hello - thought I would chime in on this thread since I came here looking for exactly this topic.
  • Our 5.5 year old kitty Ziva (pic below) was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) when she was still a baby
    • We only found out about the VSD when bringing her in to get spayed, and she went into some kind of cardiac issue so our regular vet would not do the surgery - we were referred to a specialty hospital to have her evaluated by a cardiologist who did an echocardiogram etc. and diagnosed.
    • She would see her regular vet since then for regular care but we, stupidly, did not have her re-checked by the cardio vet again.
  • Fast forward to three weeks ago - I noticed Ziva breathing heavily one night, and brought her in to her regular vet to be checked the next morning.
    • They saw fluid build up (pleural effusion) in her chest and mentioned having it drained, but also suggested we bring her back the the specialty hospital again to have another echo, possibly be treated with oxygen which we did (regular vet does not have either equipment).
    • The did the chest tap/drain and had her in oxygen overnight, and she saw the cardiologist the next day.
      • She was diagnosed with CHF which we began treating right away with lasix and benazepril. She had some slight fluid after one week of this so the cardio vet increased the lasix and as of this morning she is fluid-free, which was good news. We are going to try her on a beta blocker (atenelol) as well to see how she handles that.
  • Realistically, we know the prognosis is not great but since Ziva is otherwise acting totally normal - eating, playing, cuddling + being a young cat - we'll treat the CHF medically as long as we can.
  • Lessons learned - we should have had her seen by the cardiologist regularly prior to the recent event which I feel terrible about; however, the primary ER vet did tell me that we may have been able to catch the CHF earlier, it's not something we could have prevented due to the VSD being, basically, incurable.
I wish everyone's kitties healthy, healing vibes.
 

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amandag1

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Thanks everyone. I'm going to chart with Louie's cardiologist this afternoon. I'll ask about other meds...
As far as I know hes only on the IV lasix, and has the appetite stimulate rubbed on his ear.
He took a few bites of food last night for me, but the nurses today say he hasn't eaten anything. How long can he go on not eating?! I don't think hes had much since Friday :(((((
 

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If he's not eating, maybe the vet is administering nutrients in his IV also. At least I hope they are. Cats can get very sick from not eating because Fatty Liver can set in. Although, if your cat was not overweight to begin with, the chances of Fatty Liver are less. I would assume that the technicians could syringe feed him regularly as well. I would ask them about what they are doing to prevent Fatty Liver and how they are making sure he is getting nutrients.
 

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feel free to ask me anything about my experience
By the way, thank you. I was hesitant to add your post, above in my post #2, since I assumed you'd see it .... You're super generous :heartshape:

To the OP, I am sending you every thought and prayer I have.
 
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xenadanielle

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Thanks everyone. I'm going to chart with Louie's cardiologist this afternoon. I'll ask about other meds...
As far as I know hes only on the IV lasix, and has the appetite stimulate rubbed on his ear.
He took a few bites of food last night for me, but the nurses today say he hasn't eaten anything. How long can he go on not eating?! I don't think hes had much since Friday :(((((
Our Ziva did not eat while at the hospital either - it just scares a lot of cats, being there. If he is consistently not eating, I presume they will provide nutrients via IV or similar.
 
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amandag1

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That's what the vet told me too...that sometimes cats just wont eat in the hospital. I went by & he had a few bites but I did see him drink water. I tried Nutri-cal, he wasn't interested.

They told me they rarely give nutrients parenterally because it has high risk for them...and usually reserve this for anorexic kitties.
He is an anxious boy so I am hoping when hes back home he'll eat.

They did say that per chest xrays , the fluid is decreasing but its not totally gone, and since its in his lungs it cannot be drained.
They also said his type of cardiomyopathy is not one of contractility issues; therefore heart medications to affect contracting like vetmedin wouldn't be effective for him.
He may be discharged today so we will take about his home meds...

lots of prayers, please.
 
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amandag1

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talk*
 
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amandag1

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Hello - thought I would chime in on this thread since I came here looking for exactly this topic.
  • Our 5.5 year old kitty Ziva (pic below) was diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) when she was still a baby
    • We only found out about the VSD when bringing her in to get spayed, and she went into some kind of cardiac issue so our regular vet would not do the surgery - we were referred to a specialty hospital to have her evaluated by a cardiologist who did an echocardiogram etc. and diagnosed.
    • She would see her regular vet since then for regular care but we, stupidly, did not have her re-checked by the cardio vet again.
  • Fast forward to three weeks ago - I noticed Ziva breathing heavily one night, and brought her in to her regular vet to be checked the next morning.
    • They saw fluid build up (pleural effusion) in her chest and mentioned having it drained, but also suggested we bring her back the the specialty hospital again to have another echo, possibly be treated with oxygen which we did (regular vet does not have either equipment).
    • The did the chest tap/drain and had her in oxygen overnight, and she saw the cardiologist the next day.
      • She was diagnosed with CHF which we began treating right away with lasix and benazepril. She had some slight fluid after one week of this so the cardio vet increased the lasix and as of this morning she is fluid-free, which was good news. We are going to try her on a beta blocker (atenelol) as well to see how she handles that.
All the best wishes for you and Ziva. It is such a hard diagnosis. Louie has been in oxygen therapy since Sunday night.... 40% oxygen.
 
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