2 Year old cat with CHM, working diagnosis CHF: I need information on peoples experiences with furosemide

[hfbeckett]

Hello, my little girl Livvy has had HCM since she was a kitten. Its been 2 great, happy years but now she is showing signs of the disease progressing much more. She is currently on atenolol, benazepril, clopidogrel and furosemide. After an Emergency visit, being on oxygen and furosemide she was sent home with the instructions to give her 0.5ml every 12 hours. Its been 4 days since then, her respiratory rate has increased since then and she coughed today at 4:29 PM. We called the vet yesterday and they said give her for the next two days, 3 doses of furosemide 0.5ml every 8 hours. I was wondering about everyone's experiences with this diuretic and their cats. I am trying not to get anxious and scare her. She has not reached a dangerous respiratory rate, it was 33 a little which ago when it was 26 in the morning 8AM. So it has increased. She got the furosemide at 5:30 AM, 1:30 PM and later will get another at 9:30 PM.

I guess I just would like to know if anyone's cats responded better to more frequent furosemide at a higher dosage. She is really tiny girl though, ~6 pounds so I am worried it all might be too much for her. There has been a slight increase in urination but I have not noticed anything crazy. I was wondering if this was normal, she maybe urinates 2-3x more than usual on the medication.

We have called the vet and updated them on her situation as well and are awaiting a callback. Its been 38 minutes and she hasn't coughed again, she is napping on the heater.

 

[silent meowlook]

How do her respiration’s look? Any dyspnea? Increased respiratory effort? How comfortable is the cat? Eating and drinking?
Lassix is furosemide and it is a diuretic. It is used to pull water out of the body. You should see an increase in urine production and thirst. These medications can be hard on the kidneys. You don’t have allot of options when treating CHF. Has an ultrasound been done of the heart?

 

[silent meowlook]

I am not sure about the Beni fit of benazopril. The Atenolol should manage the high blood pressure. Your vet may have a reason, so of course talk to them about it.

 

[hfbeckett]

She has been on atenolol since she was a kitten. The benazepril and clopidogrel were added before her Emergency visit, they were first prescribed to her 6 months ago. They said the benazepril was for her blood pressure. She has had two echocardiograms before the ER and once more while there. Her echo this time showed enlargement of the upper chambers of the heart, something they observed the last echo 6 months ago. The doctor said coughing was unusual in cats and that it might be caused by her heart pushing into her lungs causing a cough because of the enlargement.

Her respiration looks normal right now. I take them whenever she is sleeping, its just they used to be ~20-22 before the ER visit and now they sit anywhere from ~25-39 bpm. While she has her episodes of labored breathing its not all the time. She's always breathed a little fast but now there's noticeable movement everyday when before the ER visit it was only noticeable maybe 3 times a month. The labored breathing is present whenever she is breathing faster than normal. It has calmed down since 4:29 PM.

She's a very active cat and loves to play and explore. It hasn't really changed much aside from she gets tired more easily and sleeps a little more than usual. She isn't in any pain but she does seem tired after bouts of 2-4 hours of movement (and its unprompted movement by me she really loves to go on and about her day). Her usual activity was only slightly more active than this. She hides more often now too, but it may be because I am smothering her and I have been paying a lot of attention to her since the ER.

Since she was a kitten she has had a bad appetite and has had stunted growth. She has been on cyproheptadine for it for over a year now and I give it to her as needed. That being said, I have not been giving it to her as much lately because I feel she's on so many medications. Some days she eats fine without it and others not so much. Yesterday she wasn't really hungry but I always make sure she gets enough food by hand-feeding even if it takes a long time. Today, she was a little better eating but I did give her a dose of the cypro and changed her food to something she hasn't had in awhile in case she was bored.

The furosemide is a diuretic and they explained how it helps remove excess fluid, however they never explained how 0.5ml was the chosen dosage. If her respiratory rate increases because of fluid buildup I was wondering if she needed a higher dose, or just more often than what was prescribed. It's really worrying knowing its hard on the kidneys but she has a bloodwork appointment for it scheduled in two weeks. She has a water fountain and I supplement her with water in a syringe when I can. She is a good girl and doesn't fuss with it or any of her medications really. But because I am not seeing such an increase in thirst or urination I was wondering if the furosemide was doing its job well enough on the dose prescribed is all I wanted to know the communities experiences with the drug and their cats

 

[fionasmom]

You are really trying to take good care of your girl and I know this is complicated. My Jamie has HCM, diagnosed at about 2 and he is 6 now. He does not take any medications. His general vet who did the echo originally prescribed atenolol and clopidogrel; however, I was not comfortable with her handling his heart condition and asked for a referral to a cardiologist. She is the one who took him off the meds. I am not in any way suggesting that your cat does not need her medication and Jamie has never taken furosemide himself. Do you see a cardiologist with her? Sorry if I missed it or misunderstood that the current vet is a cardiologist.