Newly Diagnosed With Hcm Cardiomyopathy, Help!

We are going through a stressful time with our sweet 13 year old, Rudy. About 2 weeks ago we took Rudy to the vet. I had noticed his belly had become very large and hard. We thought he was constipated. I didn’t know. Well, there turned out to be a large amount of fluid in his abdomen. After bool tests and a week long of ultrasounds, xrays and tests, he was determined to have failure in the right side of his heart, and the vet said this was causing the fluid. He was put on Lasix, a diuretic, and Benazepril. Rudy just isn’t himself. He is not purring, he is not at all his usual self. The fluid has only gone down so much, and then sort of stopped. It has decreased his waist measurement by 1 3/4 inch, but it fluctuates still. My sister nd husband believe he is recovering and it will take time and he’s in good hands. I just get so much anxiety and am worried about him. Does anyone else have experience with this and can offer any thoughts? Like, did your cat experience this and how long did recovery take? Did they get better or worsen right Away? Any help would be so appreciated! I just love my fella and this is so hard to see him so listless.

Welcome to TCS! I'm terribly sorry to hear your sweet cat, Rudy, was recently diagnosed with HCM. I did a search and found several threads that discuss this illness for your reference:
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Recovery - Breakthrough
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (hcm) Advice
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

This TCS Article that discusses heart disease may be helpful:
Heart Disease In Cats

Until other members with personal experience about HCM comment I hope the above threads are helpful.

Hi hadleyogram . I'm sorry to hear about Rudy's diagnosis and I know how you feel. I have many years of experience with my little Speedy, who has been living with heart disease almost all her life. She was diagnosed when she was maybe 5, she did great for years until when she was 14 she was diagnosed with CHF. Now she is almost 18 years old.

Did you see a regular veterinarian or a cardiologist? Are you sure the vet said HCM, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? HCM usually affects the left side of the heart but it could be the right. However, since your vet also said "failure in the right side of his heart," it sounds like right-sided congestive heart failure, or CHF. I know you're scared, and CHF is bad, but it is possible for some cats to be stable. My cardiologist gave Speedy 9-12 months to live with CHF. That was three years ago.

Like Rudy, Speedy's first sign of CHF was fluid. She did not have the swelling; instead she had a few seizure-like episodes. It turned out she was fainting, the fluid around her heart and lungs wasn't letting her breathe. The cardiologist gave Speedy an injection of Lasix to help her eliminate the fluid, and also sent us home with a prescription. And Speedy felt better pretty quickly, she didn't faint anymore. So you might ask your vet how long you should wait for Rudy to feel better and when might he need a shot of Lasix. Also, some cats need the vet to remove the fluid with a syringe, and that would provide quick relief.

So after that initial injection, Speedy has stayed on Lasix for years. Has your vet taught you how to monitor Rudy's respiration? I measure the number of breaths per minute and if Speedy's breathing speeds up to a certain rate, that's a warning sign and I can give her an extra dose of Lasix to reduce the fluid. Please ask your vet how to do this, you need to measure when the cat is sleeping and your vet will tell you the correct rate for Rudy, Speedy's will be different.

My vet and cardiologist feel that the #1 obstacle in managing heart disease is just getting the medicine into the cat. It can be very heard to get a cat to take a pill and it's really important that they take their meds. I hope Rudy takes his Lasix well.

Speedy also takes several other medications: atenolol (for blood pressure, she has been on this for 10+ years), Plavix (blood thinner), Vetmedin (helps the heart pump more efficiently), and baby aspirin 2x/week (also a blood thinner). At some point, your vet might prescribe one or more (or none) of these.

You might also ask your vet about a lower sodium diet. For CHF patients, restricting salt can sometimes be an important part of managing the disease. Please do not change Rudy's diet without speaking to your vet, especially when he is not feeling well. But do ask. Speedy is on moderate restriction, she eats foods with less than 80 mg/100 kcal of sodium. If your vet does recommend lower sodium food, I can suggest some resources and specific brands. Finding lower sodium food has been the hardest part of this whole thing for me.

Thank you so much for your reply. It helps me a lot. The vet did say it was his right side of his heart, I think he did say CHF and I got confused. It is a horrible struggle right now because he is refusing food. We have an appointment T the vet in about 2 hours. The fluid in his abdomen is getting worse again, and the pills are a real challenge. I have been powdering them, mixing them with paste supplement and he has been kicking it off his mouth. It is not easy and it’s getting harder everyday. I bought some bacon flavored pill paste to disguise it as a treat, but overall it’s not easy. Because he is refusing food, he doesn’t want the treat, so I have to force the pill in him. We have him on lasix twice a day and Benazepril once a day. He is listless, tired and weak right now. Heart wrenching.

Oh, poor Rudy. He might be listless because he's not getting enough oxygen, and he's not hungry because he is feeling bad. I bet he will perk up if the vet can remove or reduce the fluid.

If your vet is not a cardiologist, you might as for a referral or ask the vet to call for a consult. It sounds like your vet has run all the right tests and knows what s/he is doing, but a cardiologist might know more about the latest medicines and treatments. That is, if you can afford it on top of the previous expenses. A visit to my cardiologist with an echo runs me about $650.