Dilated Cardiomyopathy In Cats

[Megsnan]

My 7 month old kitten was diagnosed with DCM at 5 months old by an echo. His taurine levels are normal so unfortunately it can’t be reversed through taurine supplementation. Everything I have read about this condition has said that it’s extremely rare for a cat to have and it’s even more rare for a young kitten to have. I’ve been trying to find someone who maybe has or has had a cat with this condition. I’m curious about medications they used to manage it and rate of progression of disease. Desperately looking for answers, anything shared would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

In 2015 someone asked that same question here, and didn't get any replies from anyone having a cat with DCM. So far, I only know of THAT cat, who I believe subsequently passed away, and the one referenced in the below thread, which is 10 years old. The poster who requested info in 2015 hasn't posted since October 2017, but here is their post, in case you want to try to have a conversation with them: DCM in my 7 year old siamese

Here is the 10 year old thread, starting with post #4, discussing DCM, and what meds their cat was on:
Heart Murmur & panting?!?! What could it mean???

 

[Megsnan]

Thank you so much for the info. I guess it’s even more rare than I thought.

 

[cardinalred]

Diseases & Conditions | CVCA Cardiac Care for Pets

Chesapeake Veterinary Cardiology Associates in Virginia and Maryland say they are the most experienced board-certified veterinary cardiologists anywhere.

Why not get answers from people with impeccable credentials?

Check out their about page and contact them monday. Or someone else
at their level.

 

[Megsnan]

We have been going to CVCA just not in those states. I like his cardiologist but they are so busy, they’re impossible to get on the phone so I have lots of unanswered questions.

 

[Weasel21]

Hi there, I just joined after seeing this message. My 7.5 year old cat was diagnosed with DCM mid-September, after acute onset of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema requiring 2 days of hospitalization. His brother suffered from congestive heart failure 2 weeks later after the stress of a vet annual exam, and is assumed to have DCM as well (can’t risk the stress of a long drive and vet visit to confirm with ultrasound). We are treating with Lasix, pimobendan, and plavix. Also supplementing with taurine (although deficiency is not suspected, it can’t hurt), renal k+ (ask your vet before using this), and am going to start fish oil this weekend. One cat (the stress induced case) is doing great and I haven’t seen him this energetic since he was a kitten. My other boy is declining and suffers from muscle loss—our time together is likely very limited and I have put a lot of thought into euthanasia if his quality of life drops below a certain point. Research on DCM in vats seems to be pretty limited. How is your kitty doing and does he have clinical signs of heart failure?

 

[Megsnan]

Hi there, I just joined after seeing this message. My 7.5 year old cat was diagnosed with DCM mid-September, after acute onset of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema requiring 2 days of hospitalization. His brother suffered from congestive heart failure 2 weeks later after the stress of a vet annual exam, and is assumed to have DCM as well (can’t risk the stress of a long drive and vet visit to confirm with ultrasound). We are treating with Lasix, pimobendan, and plavix. Also supplementing with taurine (although deficiency is not suspected, it can’t hurt), renal k+ (ask your vet before using this), and am going to start fish oil this weekend. One cat (the stress induced case) is doing great and I haven’t seen him this energetic since he was a kitten. My other boy is declining and suffers from muscle loss—our time together is likely very limited and I have put a lot of thought into euthanasia if his quality of life drops below a certain point. Research on DCM in vats seems to be pretty limited. How is your kitty doing and does he have clinical signs of heart failure?

Hi there! Thank you so much for sharing, it really means a lot. I’m sorry about your boy suffering muscle loss. Cardiac cachexia is often associated with DCM and they had suspected that my kitten had it but he started eating more and putting on weight. He is taking pimobendan and plavix. The only clinical sign he has is panting after minimal exercise. The meds seem to be helping in that he can play longer without panting than he could before. Unfortunately he is going to have to have surgery to fix his palette defect, I’m real worried about him being under anesthesia. Did your kitty have an echo done? All four chambers of my kittens heart are enlarged with left and right systolic dysfunction. I’ve read about left sided heart failure or right sided but never both. Sorry if I’ve been blabbing too long, you are the only person I have found that also has cats with DCM. Do they suspect it’s genetic if both brothers have it?

 

[Weasel21]

Yes, my boy had an echo, but the vet did not interpret the results for me in detail. Looking at the results, I'm not sure they looked at the right side during the ultrasound since it only lists left side measurements, and they only commented about the left side for the echo. "There is still LAE and dilation of the LV chamber. Both the LV free wall and IVS walls are thinner than normal and there is decreased fractional shortening. EPSS is abnormal at 6mm. All changes are consistent with dilated cardiomyopathy. There is no segmental wall thickening to suggest end stage HCM." It was an out of town emergency clinic that performed the ultrasound/echo, and unfortunately they are not willing to talk with me about anything over the phone without me bringing my cat back in, and the long car ride is going to be too stressful & risky. There is no cardiologist within a 4 hour radius. My regular vet, although a wonderful and kind person, doesn't seem very knowledgable in the treatment of cardiomyopathy.

Feline Cardiomyopathy-Establishing a Diagnosis - WALTHAMOSU2002 - VIN Suggests that dilation of all four chambers is normal for DCM.

I'm having to figure things out based on my own research. Neither clinic would even tell me whether or not to add the renal K+ supplement after doing follow-up blood work. The ER clinic just said "your regular vet will talk to you about a renal diet" and the regular vet, after a week of sitting on that info, just said "feed him a low sodium diet". Neither had an answer about the potassium, though the regular vet said "it can't hurt" (which is not true--too much potassium can lead to arrhythmia). After researching symptoms of low potassium, and knowing that they had him on a potassium supplement for a few days after discharge, I figured out that my cat was displaying some of those symptoms, so I added the renal K+ and he has improved quite a bit. Anyway, sorry for rambling... you shouldn't need to worry about potassium levels if your kitty doesn't have fluid retention that requires a diuretic. It's good news that his condition was detected before onset of acute congestive heart failure.

I don't have any advice to give about the anesthesia. It sounds like the biggest risks with anesthesia is when cardiomyopathy is undetected and strict monitoring is not in place. There is a lot of information available on the potential effects of different anesthesia techniques on cardiac patients (Sedation and Anaesthesia for Pets with Cardiac Disease - WSAVA 2014 Congress - VIN), so the vet should be able to do everything that they can to minimize the risk.

 

[Megsnan]

4 hrs?! I don’t blame you for not making that trip! His cardiologist has a wealth of knowledge about his condition but she’s the only one around so she’s really busy and doesn’t have time to explain things. I’m having a hard time getting anyone to do surgery on him. My vet was going to neuter him but then she spoke with his cardiologist and that scared her out of doing it. My cardiologist says that cats with DCM once they go into heart failure, which anesthesia induces more or less, it’s very hard to bring them back. I’m hoping the oral surgeon will change her mind and do the surgery on his palate defect and then they can neuter him at the same time. Living with an intact male cat is no fun!! That’s interesting about the renal k supplement, I will have to look into that. I was giving him omega 3 but he doesn’t like the taste of it. He was on taurine supplements until his blood work came back normal for taurine levels. His diet isn’t great but I give him what he eats. My cardiologist said that diet didn’t matter as long as he’s eating.
So did your cat have a cough? How was he diagnosed? Does he still have symptoms of CHF? Your other kitty with the muscle loss, does he eat regularly? I struggle with getting my cat to eat sometimes.
Thank you for the info about enlargement of all four chambers being normal. That’s reassuring

 

[Weasel21]

If correcting the palette defect is not necessary for a quality of life, then maybe the vets are right to decline surgery. Once cats with DMC get CHF, the prognosis is pretty poor (most of the mean survival times I've found are <2 months).

I struggle with getting cat #1 (Misgiye) to eat enough. He frequently acts like he wants to eat, but after approaching his food he'll smack his lips and walk away, indicating that he's nauseous (probably from meds). I'm adding the omega 3's to see if it'll increase his appetite to improve the muscle wasting. Still waiting for it to come into the mail, so I don't know whether or not he'll go for the taste. I have to pill him with everything else so it'd be no big deal to add one more pill to the mix if he won't take it in his food. Again, I wouldn't recommend the renal K+ supplement unless your kitty has had a blood test for potassium level and the vet says add it, which is only low in my cat because of the diuretic. Low sodium diet is not super important in the early stages of cardiomyopathy, but once a cat develops CHF it can be more important because sodium promotes fluid retention. My cat had a really rough breathing patch last weekend, and I suspect it was because I gave him a new food to entice his appetite without realizing it had added salt. Pet food manufacturers don't list sodium levels, unfortunately.

My cat had no symptoms or murmur history prior to congestive heart failure. He just suddenly collapsed in front of me and couldn't breathe. Cat #2 (Milo) also had no symptoms and even got a clean bill of health at the vet about an hour before he went into congestive heart failure. He won't have an official diagnosis of heart disease type since I can't bring him to a cardiologist without risking repeated acute CHF, but it seems highly likely to be DCM if his brother has DCM.

 

[Megsnan]

Unfortunately the defect is starting to negatively impact his quality of life. He had an infection in his mouth last week, I think the defect had to be the culprit. It’s a hole in his mouth that goes straight into his nasal cavity and food gets stuck in there. He stopped drinking water because water ends up in his nose and he doesn’t like that. I can’t imagine having two kitties with heart disease! Bless your heart. That makes sense about the Renal k, his potassium was high last we checked. He also has a slow heart rate. Have you experienced that? They did an ekg and everything was fine so who knows what that’s about. Seems like it always something. I put primal turkey liver munchies on top of his food and that has helped with his eating. I don’t believe they add salt either.