Congestive Heart Failure

xenadanielle

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Hi all...
Louie update.
Took him into the cardiologist today.
He was very anxious in the carrier and tried to bite and push out.
He started breathing really fast and I was really worried driving (30 min ride)

We got there and they took him for labs and xrays.
The Dr came in and said fluid has returned in his chest and his RR was 80 (high should be 40) and the lasix dose needs to go up.
They gave him a lasix injection at that visit.... he was really scared in general during and before the visit.
I got really upset because he seemed to be doing well at home.
Eating a little more each day... playing and always waiting for me / following me around.

I was away for 4 days and I had my pet sitter & husband give his meds.
My husband wasnt able to give him any at all on Saturday and I am thinking the rest of the week wasnt so consistent either.... (louie is really afraid of males and my husband so he cant pill gun him)

I am a wreck about this. I spend 95% of my day worrying and checking on him. Ive installed two pet cams and watch him...

Vet advised to up his dosage of lasix (3x a day now, 12.5 mg each, added atenolol.

Thwy also have gabapentin to give before the vet cisit.
Anyone have experiences with this? Does it help calm them?
Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear the fluid came back for poor Louie. I suspect it may have been because of the lower med dosage while you were away too. I was worried about this myself when we were away earlier this month but knock wood our petsitter was able to pill our Ziva....

I do not have have experience with gabapentin but my vet did mention something about it this morning while I was there with two of my other cats since one is 19 and very stiff/arthritic...it does not look like an arthritis med though. Odd...
 

Kflowers

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Since you're really stressed, let me say that I think Furballsmom Furballsmom means these "Chamomile tea with honey, holy basil, L-tryptophan and ignatia Amara can help."are for you to take to easy your stress which will ease Louie's.

If I'm wrong apologies.
 
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amandag1

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Thanks for the replies.

I try not to show Louie Im stressed but Im constantly checking him.
I really dont want to loose him :(

His breathing rate is highs 40s... which is high , I know...
He did have all his meds today... hoping a few days to a week of diligent medication will remove the fluid.

Pray please... :(
 
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amandag1

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Thanks....
Been sticking to a strict regimen and making sure Louie gets his medicine. He seems to be doing okay but he flops down and lays around in random spots of the house more recently now. The vet said it will be 2 weeks or so of irregular breathing due to fluid in his lungs :(
I just hope my baby boy gets better....
 

xenadanielle

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So, I had to take Ziva in to the emergency vet again yesterday since she was exhibiting signs of going back into failure again (elevated respiration, coughing). Fortunately her cardiologist was working out of the emergency clinic closer to me yesterday.

She needed to have a pleural tap again and oxygen. They're upping her lasix to three times a day now, upped her benazepril dosage, and added another med whose name escapes me at the moment.

I'm struggling time processing next steps right now and really sad about it. She seems fine to the naked eye - but does seem to be have some additional symptoms (the coughing is new). Doing the meds three times a day is a bit logistically complex due to work schedules but I can make it work somehow. Part of the issue is, I hate to say this, financial - my husband told me last night that we cannot take another hit like this @ the emergency vet, which I am sure you all know can be very expensive. My regular vet can do the pleural tap, and a lasix injection in case Ziva goes into failure again I don't know the protocol/politics of it all. The cardiologist only works out of the specialty places and is only at the various locations on certain days.... #complicated

Also, it's devastating pondering that this may just start to happen more. How do I know if she is suffering or not? Even when she's is a bit huffy-puffy she still comes to me for love, she eats, she cuddles, she purrs, she walks around with her tail up. She did seem a bit more lethargic this time around, however.

Additionally, the cardiologist still has not called me to follow up which he was supposed to do, and did not respond to an email I sent so I am a little annoyed about that. Yesterday I was dealing with one of the other staff vets at the emergency place and she was the only one calling me; cardio vet saw her separately when I was not present and did the echo and provided the written report about it....
 

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xenadanielle

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Thanks Furballsmom Furballsmom

Yeah, my co-worker did a GoFundMe when he had an unexpected cat emergency and suggested I do so as well but that's not me and my husband agrees. We'll just cut back in other areas to pay down the credit card bill.

Ziva seems perkier and happier since coming home so I guess we just need to keep an eye on things. I've been down this road many times with other fur children but this is the first time with a young cat.
 

suh

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I had two cats with heart disease, they both passed a couple of years ago, but they also both outlived their prognosis. I would say finding the right treatment at first can be a bit of a challenge, one of our cat, we really struggled with his treatment when he was first diagnosed. He is on three types of med 3 times a day, diuretic, blood thinner and one to strengthen his heart. However, oral lasix didn't work on him and he was going in and out of the ER for failures continuously for a few weeks, each time worse than before, the cardiologist ended up suggesting euthanasia. We didn't want to give up and went for a second opinion. The new cardiologist recommended lasix injection as the new treatment. So I learned how to do subcutaneous and intramuscular injections and was administering the meds at home, which was much less stressful for our cat. The injection ended up working out so well, it kept him healthy and happy for another few years and he was living his normal life. I also was able to decrease his injection to once every other day at one point. Every cat is different, injectible lasix might not work with other cats as it doesn't stay in the cat's system although the effect is quicker. Just throwing it out there as an option, since it saved our cat. Our cat also never got his chest drained, it was always intravenous lasix and oxygen tank.

Another thing that I did was I got the vet to prescribed an oxygen tank for me in case of emergency. Some people also build their own oxygen tank at home with a big clear storage box so their cat can breathe easier when they have a small flare up or while being transported to the vet. But the usage prob should be discussed with the vet.
 

xenadanielle

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I had two cats with heart disease, they both passed a couple of years ago, but they also both outlived their prognosis. I would say finding the right treatment at first can be a bit of a challenge, one of our cat, we really struggled with his treatment when he was first diagnosed. He is on three types of med 3 times a day, diuretic, blood thinner and one to strengthen his heart. However, oral lasix didn't work on him and he was going in and out of the ER for failures continuously for a few weeks, each time worse than before, the cardiologist ended up suggesting euthanasia. We didn't want to give up and went for a second opinion. The new cardiologist recommended lasix injection as the new treatment. So I learned how to do subcutaneous and intramuscular injections and was administering the meds at home, which was much less stressful for our cat. The injection ended up working out so well, it kept him healthy and happy for another few years and he was living his normal life. I also was able to decrease his injection to once every other day at one point. Every cat is different, injectible lasix might not work with other cats as it doesn't stay in the cat's system although the effect is quicker. Just throwing it out there as an option, since it saved our cat. Our cat also never got his chest drained, it was always intravenous lasix and oxygen tank.

Another thing that I did was I got the vet to prescribed an oxygen tank for me in case of emergency. Some people also build their own oxygen tank at home with a big clear storage box so their cat can breathe easier when they have a small flare up or while being transported to the vet. But the usage prob should be discussed with the vet.
Thank you very much for this feedback! My regular vet mentioned doing the lasix injection in an "emergency" if I cannot get to her cardio vet who works out of different offices all over the state. May I ask what your cats' symptoms were, when you knew it was their time to go? I ask because for now Ziva seems fine and not suffering at all. I don't know if I should expect something sudden, or if it will be something where the meds are not working anymore etc.

My new conundrum is that I must attend a conference for work in July, and our dear friend/cat sitter, who can administer Ziva's meds, has to go to the same conference. I don't know anyone else who can do it three times a day (husband included) unless I hire a stranger. So I may need to board/medical board our little Ziva, which terrifies me. I'm afraid she will shut down and not eat etc. I'm going to look for other threads on here about that....
 

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I don't know anyone else who can do it three times a day (husband included) unless I hire a stranger.
Maybe a couple of the vet techs at your vets office would be willing to take turns pilling your kitty, depending on their work shifts and such. Your kitty would be in good hands and they're not "total" strangers.
Perhaps your husband can do one or two of the doses depending on his work schedule and you would only need someone for the third dose.
 
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amandag1

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Thank you very much for this feedback! My regular vet mentioned doing the lasix injection in an "emergency" if I cannot get to her cardio vet who works out of different offices all over the state. May I ask what your cats' symptoms were, when you knew it was their time to go? I ask because for now Ziva seems fine and not suffering at all. I don't know if I should expect something sudden, or if it will be something where the meds are not working anymore etc.

My new conundrum is that I must attend a conference for work in July, and our dear friend/cat sitter, who can administer Ziva's meds, has to go to the same conference. I don't know anyone else who can do it three times a day (husband included) unless I hire a stranger. So I may need to board/medical board our little Ziva, which terrifies me. I'm afraid she will shut down and not eat etc. I'm going to look for other threads on here about that....
Look up pet sitters international, I found one on there.... its a website and you can put in your zipcode to find people near you.
Also asking the vet for any techs who animal sit is a great idea!
I have the same issue; when I leave my husband cant pill Louie Louie wont let him come near him!
Also buy a pet pill syringe on amazon! Theyre like 2-4$ and work so well!!
 

FeralHearts

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Thwy also have gabapentin to give before the vet cisit.
Anyone have experiences with this? Does it help calm them?
So sorry to read about your poor baby XOXOXOXOX

I've used Gabapentin before, particularly on one very frightened cat that would hurt me or herself if I even tried to get her into a cage for a vet visit.

It worked very well and made the cage, the travel, and the vet visit much less stressful on her.

Sending you the warmest thoughts XOXOXO
 
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amandag1

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So sorry to read about your poor baby XOXOXOXOX

I've used Gabapentin before, particularly on one very frightened cat that would hurt me or herself if I even tried to get her into a cage for a vet visit.

It worked very well and made the cage, the travel, and the vet visit much less stressful on her.

Sending you the warmest thoughts XOXOXO
Great thanks for that! I plan to use it for him next week so he doesn't get super scared and get his heart racing like last time... :(
 

FeralHearts

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Great thanks for that! I plan to use it for him next week so he doesn't get super scared and get his heart racing like last time... :(
You're very welcome. I think you'll find it helpful.

It's pretty scary to see their wee heart race like that - especially when they have some heart trouble. My boy Charlie has HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) not the same thing as yours but I can still understand how you feel. Scary stuff.
 
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