Getting my cats checked for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy...

[Cataria]

So about three weeks ago, I got some bad news; one of my three-year-old kitties, Ronan, has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. During his regular check-up my regular vet discovered he had a heart murmur, so I took him to see a cardiologist about two hours away. For now they prescribed him atenolol twice a day and said he would need to take it for the rest of his life.

Since then, it has been very stressful. Ronan is a fairly skittish cat, so in order to give him his meds, I have to chase him around the house. Actually pilling him is super easy, it's catching him that's the problem, and doing this twice a day has been really wearing me down. But I keep telling myself it's fine -- eventually he'll get used to it and it won't be such a big deal.

Here's the real problem:

The cardiologist I saw said that the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is genetic. Unfortunately, I have five of Ronan's siblings and his mother. None of them showed any sign of a heart murmur at their last check-up, but that doesn't mean they aren't affected. The cardiologist suggested that I get a cardiac enzyme blood test done to see if any of them also have the problem.

I'm not sure what to do. I'd definitely like to get the blood tests done for my piece of mind, but I seriously don't know what I'm going to do if more of them have this issue and need to take medication. I'm already out of my mind with Ronan -- I'm stressed, I keep being late for work -- I honestly don't know how I'm going to manage if I have to pill more cats right now.

For the sake of my sanity and because of my work schedule I'm currently planning on waiting until I have some time off in December before I drag six cats to the vet again. But in the mean time... does anyone have any advice on how to make this less sucky if I have to pill more cats? Anyone have any experience with how often cardiomyopathy appears in related cats? My one hope is that I heard that it was more common in male cats, and all of Ronan's relatives are female.

 

[jcat]

Our last cat had HCM, and none of his four siblings (one female, three males) were affected by it; he also outlived them all. Have you tried finding treats Ronan will take the pills in? In addition to pill pockets or gooey (soft) cat treats, you could try liverwurst, mozzarella, cream cheese, fish paste, butter, etc.. We often have to pill litters of kittens or cats sharing rooms at the shelter and do it with liverwurst or soft treats; you have to be careful about not mixing the "placebo treats" up with the ones with hidden pills because they all naturally want a treat, but using two different saucers when preparing the treats works.

 

[Azazel]

I would definitely get the bloodwork done. I had a kitten who died suddenly of cardiomyopathy. He had been checked numerous times by the vet and showed no signs. I would happily pill him every day if it meant having him back.

 

[FeralHearts]

While I don't have experience with multiple cats from the same family and HCM, I can tell you I have a 7-year-old (just turned in September) that does have HCM. Diagnosed at about 3 years oldish. Male. Mild and not medicated.

When his ultrasound came back as HCM. I cried and cried. The recommendation from the tech who read the ultrasound was to medicate. His Vet actually sounded pretty annoyed that someone recommended medicating and said to me "We are NOT medicating this cat". I was shocked by her response to it, but at his level, it's okay and actually better not to medicate yet. We wait and watch.

I hope knowing that gives you a bit of peace.

In other words - even IF one of the siblings has HCM that might not mean medication. It might simply mean a wait and watch. HCM and other cardiac issues are actually more common in cats than many realize.

I really hope that helps a bit.

XOXOXOXOXOX

 

[foxxycat]

One of my cats hates her claws clipped=I do it when she's sleeping..can you pill the cat while they are sleeping? I use a syringe of water-dribble it on side of the mouth-followed by pill popper with pill in it-end coated in butter-after follow with syringe of water-then I feed her some wet food so after time-she associated pill time with yummy food afterwards...
I suggest when they are asleep-so you can stealth pill them-then feed afterwards...

Was the kitty having any symptoms other than a murmur? I had a cat with a murmur in her older years-we didn't treat but by then she was 14 and already on pred for severe arthritis..we just went to every other day for pred to not have the cardiac issues from steroids...

 

[Cataria]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it and hearing about other people's experiences.

I haven't tried hiding the pill in anything or pilling him when he is sleeping because he is a very skittish, suspicious cat. If I approach him at all, he hides. If I offer him food, he hides. He doesn't actually like me (or any other human) very much, but he absolutely adores his mother and siblings so he is adorable to watch. I'm happy to have him anyway. The good news is that when I do catch him, he becomes very submissive and I have no trouble pilling him at all -- it's the catching that is a pain.

I have a couple cats on special diets that I use a microchip cat feeder for, and I have considered trying one for him -- maybe I could hide the food in a treat and stick it in the microchip feeder so he can get it on his own time and the other cats won't get it? It seems a bit overkill, but it might save the both of us some stress in the end if it works. I'm not feeling too confident on it though because he's never approached the other cats' microchip feeders and he'd probably be too afraid to eat out of it. The curse of skittish cats!

And no, the heart murmur is his only symptom, fortunately! The vet said we caught it really early -- and hopefully, if he would just let me give him his medicine, it will stay under control...

I'll take the other cats to get the bloodwork done in December. Hopefully all will be good (they are symptom-free), but if there's a chance I won't have to pill them all, that would be awesome for my sanity.

 

[foxxycat]

The only problem with hiding in food-it may be bitter and that would cause a food aversion-best bet is putting the med in an empty capsule and pilling...you may only have to give it once a day...they also make topical meds you rub in the ear-start working to earn his trust with treats/tuna/chicken...get him used to you by giving him food treats...that's the start of trust...