Enlarged Heart in 7 month old

[r00en]

So I just got the news from my vet that my little 7 month old has a slightly enlarged / round heart. And needless to say I'm scared to death.
He went in for his neuter and ever since he was a little guy he's always had a strange way of breathing. Going all the way back to when he was 8 weeks old he would breath rapidly while at rest but during checkups his heart sounded just fine as well as his lungs. He snores a little as well but beyond that he has been a happy, crazy little teenager who will eat your finger off for a treat. He shows no other signs of symptoms of anything being wrong it was only on a whim and to calm my mind that we did the x-ray while he was going under for the neuter anyway.

The vet is going to run a few more tests looking for a cause so we know our treatment plans going forward but my question is has anyone else dealt with this before? Like I said I'm so scared for my little guy and I don't know what to expect or how to move forward with this news. Some things I've read say they can live normally lives with little issue just life long medication to keep things in order, another says they get six to eight months at best.

Needless to say I'll be doing everything I can to help him, if he's on meds for the rest of his life then that's what we do. If he needs more we will do more. I'm just not sure what I'm in for here.

 

[Alldara]

r00en I'm sorry to hear you got worrying news.

I remember when Magnus was diagnosed with a heart condition. He was still a baby and we didn't know if he would make it to 1 year. Now, he's 3.5

There are different levels of heart conditions in cats. Your little floof's prognosis will depend on:
1- what the diagnosis is.
2- what level the condition is at and how treatable it is.

I don't think any of us breathed normally until we got his first set of heart bloodwork back. Then, we did a second set of heart bloodwork 6 months later. He even had a dental afterwards with no issues. Magnus's diagnosis ended up being a level 1 congenital heart murmur without heart disease. He only took added taurine for about a year and his heart murmur was not heard again but he purrs a lot and it's hard to hear. It's still considered present.

The vet says we must keep him from overheating and not all of his games can include running around. The opposite of what Jackson Galaxy says for cat playtime. He can still chase his brothers and run around sometimes, but when we use a wand toy with him it's in a smaller space for limited time and with a fan or air conditioning. That's all for him! Everything else is normal cat life.

 

[fionasmom]

My Jamie was diagnosed with HCM at 2 years old and is now 7. I do believe that these conditions can be managed, but I recommend that you ask for a referral to a veterinary cardiologist rather than letting your regular vet or the ultrasonographer make any determination...if you were to proceed to an ultrasound/ECG.

 

[bowshi]

Hi r00en, while I can't say my boys (who both just turned 1 year last month) have enlarged hearts, they do both have congenital heart defects which were picked up and confirmed by echocardiograms. As the others have mentioned, HCM (if that's what it is) can be very effectively managed with medication and many cats live very normal lives with it. The 6-8 months to live is generally associated with cats who have entered congestive heart failure, which it doesn't sound like your kitty is anywhere near. That is when the heart walls get so thick and rigid that it can't effectively pump blood, causing fluid to back up into the lungs and chest cavity for left sided heart failure, and abdomen for right sided heart failure. An X-ray would confirm this so if the doctor didn't see anything, your cat is not in heart failure.

I think the key is to know how to monitor your kitty for signs that their condition is deteriorating. That includes knowing how and when to count their breathing rate, looking out for signs such as open mouth breathing/abdominal breathing, collapse, losing ability to use hind legs, etc... so that you can get them looked at ASAP if any of it happens and quickly intervene.

I know very well how scary it can be to get a diagnosis like this... all we can do is know how to spot the signs of distress to ensure we can get them help if they need it, and follow whatever treatment plan our vets recommend. Wishing all the best to your kitten.

 

[r00en]

Hi r00en, while I can't say my boys (who both just turned 1 year last month) have enlarged hearts, they do both have congenital heart defects which were picked up and confirmed by echocardiograms. As the others have mentioned, HCM (if that's what it is) can be very effectively managed with medication and many cats live very normal lives with it. The 6-8 months to live is generally associated with cats who have entered congestive heart failure, which it doesn't sound like your kitty is anywhere near. That is when the heart walls get so thick and rigid that it can't effectively pump blood, causing fluid to back up into the lungs and chest cavity for left sided heart failure, and abdomen for right sided heart failure. An X-ray would confirm this so if the doctor didn't see anything, your cat is not in heart failure.

I think the key is to know how to monitor your kitty for signs that their condition is deteriorating. That includes knowing how and when to count their breathing rate, looking out for signs such as open mouth breathing/abdominal breathing, collapse, losing ability to use hind legs, etc... so that you can get them looked at ASAP if any of it happens and quickly intervene.

I know very well how scary it can be to get a diagnosis like this... all we can do is know how to spot the signs of distress to ensure we can get them help if they need it, and follow whatever treatment plan our vets recommend. Wishing all the best to your kitten.

Thanks so much everyone for the kindness, I'm already a little more at ease knowing there are kitties out there thriving with possibly the same issue. We just got home from his surgery and the vet said he did fantastic. He woke up purring and meowing for attention and ate a small snack an hour after so his apatite is as strong as ever and I'm struggling to keep him contained to one place and not trying to drunkenly play with his brother. He gained over a pound since our last check up not long ago and she said she couldn't see anything in his lungs, they were nice and clear and healthy looking. No fluid build up. Only odd thing is the heart being a little large and round.

Boris has always has a strange way of breathing ever since he was almost weeks old. We assumed it was an URI which we cleared up but his high Breaths PM stuck around. There are times were it seems like hes panting in his sleep with his mouth closed thats how rabidly he's breathing. Enough to rock the cat perch he's on, but when you poke him he just wakes up and glares at you for disturbing his nap. He whistles a little when he sleeps but only in some positions as he likes to smush his face up against my neck at night, but he never struggles for air or coughs and when we checked his heart before it was beating just fine and his lungs sounded strong. The breathing was why we decided on the x-rays at all.

I'm oddly enough hoping for early HCM because it sounds more than manageable. I do go to a cat specialty hospital and we will look into a cardiologist for sure once the tests come back that were sent out today. I'll try and keep everyone posted! His brother has some dental issues going on so I'm batting two for two on the special needs kittens (and these are my FIRST!)