Hcm

jassiwei

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Hello,

is there anyone with experience in HCM (Hypertrophe Kardiomyopathie)?

It was diagnosed by my cat Micky when she was 5 years old. Since this time I have been giving her special pills named Enacard. Now she is 12 years old. She has been never any disease symptoms except that she sleeps a lot and sometimes you can see that her heart beats very intensely.

Has anybody experience with the life-expectancy of cats with HCM?

Greetings from Germany
Jasmin
 

eilcon

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My male cat, Peter, who will turn 3-years-old next month was diagnosed with mild HCM over a year ago. He's on daily medication (atenolol) and takes 1/2 of a baby aspirin twice a week. It's my understanding if caught early that HCM is a managable disease. That's been the case with Peter. His heart is currently functioning normally and there's been no further progression of the disease since he was diagnosed. His longterm prognosis is good. I've heard of cats that lived normal lives for many years after the diagnosis, than pass away due to unrelated causes. So, it really seems to depend on the cat and the severity of the disease when diagnosed.

I've found this online group for cats with HCM to be very helpful:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/feline-heart/

Good luck to you and your kitty. Please feel free to PM if you have any questions or concerns.
 

emmylou

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My cat has HCM. Apparently the life expectancy really varies depending on the individual cat and the severity of the disease. My vet said that she's seen some cats live eight years *after* they enter heart failure. If the cat isn't in heart failure yet, I would think the time would be longer.

The fact that your cat isn't symptomatic is probably a good sign.

Of course, the average life expectancy of an indoor cat is around 12 years to 18 years.
 

myndnbabies

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Hi HCM just depends on the cat. I have a Sphynx that will be three next month and he was scaned at a year old and found out he had HCM. It is very mild and he is not on any meds for it. He is scanned every 6 months and it has not got any worse yet. I also had a Sphynx that was scanned at a year old had a slight heart murmmer was told to have him rescanned again in a year and 9 months after his scan he passed away. From HCM. So its just how it effects each cat some cats it progresses slow in and others its very fast.
 

debskats

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Katy and Chloe both have HCM. Chloe's (she's 17) is very mild, she's never had any symptoms and isn't on any medications. Katy's (she's 14) is a little worse though not severe. She did have shortness of breath, weakness and just laid around most of the time when she was first diagnosed. She's been on atenolol and Norvasc daily. She was on a baby aspirin twice a week but we stopped that earlier this year because she had chronic pancreatitis.

Both were diagnosed about 2 1/2 years ago and neither has progressed up to this point. Both go back to the vet hospital for repeat echocardiograms every year.

It sounds like Micky has done really well.
 

crismd

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I had a cat with HCM. I was in love with him. Contrary to what I have read about your cats, mine didn't share that luck. He suffered a thromboembolism out of the blue (had NO signs at all) in May 2005 and was then diagnosed with mild HCM. Early stage, hardly detectable even by the vet. He survived and completely recovered the thromboembolic event that had left him lame for 2 weeks. He was given medication (heart medication, half a tablet daily)to delay the progress of the disease. In october he had another heart scan (I was told to have one every 6 months) and things looked good,l no progress of the disease was found. Still no manifestations at all in his every day life. A perfectly normal cat. Continued medication as before. On February 15th 2006 he suffered another thromboembolic episode and died. The doctor couldn't save him this time. My cat did not last even a year!!! Still haven't recovered from his loss. He was only 4,5
How is it that your cats have managed that well????
I wish all the best to your cat. Maybe the treatment there is more effective. I honestly hope that all will be fine
 
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jassiwei

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Hello,

at first many thanks for your answers and information and the helpful informative links.

I think you are right. It depends on the cats and the severity of the disease.

I'm so sorry to hear that some cats of you have also hcm.

To eilcon: I'm happy to hear that your Peter live with the disease well - like Micky. I hope he will have a long and happy life.

To emmylou: I hope your cat can live well with the disease and I wish also a long and happy life to her. Good to hear about the life expectancy.

To mymdnbabies: At first I'm very sorry for your loss. It's a horrible feeling. I can comprehend it because I lost my tom cat Toby in February this year. I'm happy that you have another cat and I hope her life will take a long time. Instead of hcm.

To Debscats: I happy to hear that your cat are 14 and 17 instead of hcm. a good sign for the life expectancy. I hope they will be very old and have an happy life.

To chrismd: At first: I'm so sorry for your loss. I can understand how you feel because I lost my adorable tom cat Toby this year in February. I'm still so sad and I miss him so much. You can read about it in 'Crossing the bridge'. The story about your cat is so sad - I think you lived between hope and fear and it was a very severe time for your. Mayby simular to the story of my Toby. I had so much hope but at least... Do you have another cat that can give you consulation?

Best wishes from Germany to all
and I really hope that your cats will have a very long and happy life
Jasmin
 

crismd

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I hope that all will turn out well for your cat, really!!!
I had onother cat when he died and have taken another two since... I could never be without cats no matter how it hurts when you lose one
 

spookey

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I had a14 year old cat that developed HCM but he had no outward signs except for heart murmur. His septum doubled in size in two years but his atrium remainewd normal size so no threat of clot formation. He was euthanized this a few weeks ago due to a small intestine tumor.

I just adopted another cat who is maybe 3 yrs old (guessing). Was given clean bill of health by shelter but when I took her to the vet she heard a Grade IV murmur on both sides of heart. Brought her for an echocardiogram and she has moderate HCM with some effusion and valve defect. It is totally different from ny 17 yr old in that her atrium is quite enlarged. I will be putting her on anticlotting meds this week.

The cardiologist said that there is no predicting how a cat will do with this disease. She could live 2 weeks, 2 months or even 10 years without treatment. He has even seen some cats turn this disease around with proper nutrition. It is therefore extremely variable from cat to cat.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Spookey, I'm sorry for your loss of your older boy, and congrats on the new girl.  But how sad that now SHE has a pretty bad heart murmur , especially after getting a clean bill of health.  I wonder if you could get the shelter to pay for the echo?  (wouldn't that be nice, since those don't come cheap!)   Vibes that she does well on her new meds.

Anyway, just thought I would point out that the thread you posted to is over 6 years old.   If you'd like to start up a new thread of your own, in case you have any questions or whatever, please feel free to do that.

Oh, and welcome to TCS!
 
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lunariris

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Hi, I know this is an old thread, but wanted to chime in. I just lost my boy of 11 1/2 years, bottle nursed him as an orphaned 4 week old from the side of the road. His mother was hit by a car, and his siblings were rehomed by a relative, but didn't survive. I found a blowfly larvae in his chest we had removed when we first got him.

A few years ago, he was found to have a murmur, but they did an echo and told me he was fine. He had dental work done the following week.

He had blood in his stool around Christmas and started having diarrhea and ran him to the vet. All of a sudden he was in heart failure, but they couldn't tell me if there was a cause. They also couldn't explain the blood in his stool....I thought maybe he had a blockage and wanted an ultrasound...they said he probably just ate something that upset his stomach. I ran him back in twice and finally made them do an ultrasound. They said they'd have to keep him overnight to do the test as that person is only there during day hours (at an ER hospital, mind you). I said that was fine, I wanted him checked.

They found metastasized colon cancer. It was extremely aggressive. He lost almost 5 pounds in just 3 weeks...and his blood work was "normal" week one, but by week 3 it was off the charts.

They said colon cancer is relatively rare in cats so they didn't consider looking...I'm glad I pushed the issue or I'd have thought he just had heart failure and his intestines would've ruptured thinking we had more time. We couldn't treat the cancer, because of his heart, they said he wouldn't survive surgery or cancer. But he seemed normal just more than a month ago! I researched and there's a link between heart disease and colon cancer, it puts them at higher risk. They also looked at his heart closer and noted HCM as a likely cause for his heart failure. The vet said he lived a long life considering it was congenital.

We had his son tested, who's 10 1/2 and had a murmur his whole life but no other signs (he also has asthma and allergies) and his echo showed moderate HCM. I'm worried about him as his dad and him were so close, I'm worried about his depression and his heart. He looks for his dad still and I feel so bad. We euthanized his dad when he couldn't get comfortable at night and was unable to go to the bathroom. I wonder if the stress of giving him his heart meds will make him better or worse in the long run? They weren't on meds for over a decade, and I think his dad's cancer flipped the switch sending him from HCM to heart failure...I don't know if the meds are more harm than good or if it will actually extend his life by years. He hates his medicine. He nburies his head in my arm every time he gets it and tries to spit it out.

Does anyone have experience with congenital HCM and if the medicine seems to make it worse or better? If we can't predict how long they have with this tricky condition, how can we be sure the medicine helps? And I know there's adult onset, but what's the oldest cat anyone's ever heard of a cat with congenital HCM (born with it) living? I'm sorry for everyone else going through this.
 

Nabzzzii

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Hiya

The medication slows the disease down and this would help making the cats life longer. So I would highly recommend that you get the cats medications as soon as possible.
 

Geoffrey

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I am a human doctor, a cardiologist, not a vet, but I have a great deal of experience of human patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cats are not dissimilar. The name means "an increase in the muscle of the heart", and this indicates that the muscle forming the chambers of the heart has become larger (hypertrophied). Unfortunately the heart muscle becomes weaker as it hypertrophies and this leads to heart failure.

The medication that you are giving the cat is enalapril maleate, a drug which is an ACE inhibitor. It is very useful in treating heart failure, but is not a specific medication for HCM. If Micky had heart failure seven years ago, then she has done very well indeed. Micky is nearing the average life expectancy of cats which is fourteen years and I would recommend that it is time that she is reviewed by a vet. As she has had HCM for all this time, the medication may need to be reviewed.

With all best wishes to you both from Australia,
Geoffrey
 
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