Hocm In 1 Year Old Cat

[emilyodette]

see my previous posts about the hell we’ve been in since sunday..
but! we have answers
lily was diagnosed by the cardiologist with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. she was given new medications and got a full panel bloodwork. her kidneys are good for now and we’ll know about the rest today.
she may live up to a year of a happy life with daily medication.
this problem is hereditary so there’s a 50% chance her sister has it too, just not as bad, as this is early onset. so in 2 weeks they get to go to the cardiologist together. i will attach the full summary from the vet.
i am a bit relieved but still scared. thankfully, the main reason i considered in home euthanasia before i knew the prognosis, was because of the risks. the cardiologist said her risks are: 4% chance of sudden heart attack at home, 25-30% of less chance of embolism (very painful), and 10% chance of respiratory failure at home. the risks may vary slightly in the paperwork. will upload soon.

there is still a small chance it could be viral or inflammatory but we will know with the bloodwork results today.

medications:
0.6ml furosemide every 12 hours to remove fluids from lungs
clopidogrel (plavix) 25mg every 24 hours to reduce risk of embolisms
benazepril 1.25mg every 24 hours to help the heart (instead of 0.5mg enalapril used before)

i’m relieved that i didn’t have her euthanasied early for basically no reason because we would’ve still needed to know the cause to check her sister. i would’ve felt terrible.

her sister didn’t recognize her when she came home from the vet and was very scared and hissed at her a few times but now, around 12 hours later, they’re buddies again. thank god.
i’m tracking down their other littermates today to see if any of them have had problems.

i had them checked for everything and vaccinated and whatnot before they even came home because my baby mowy died very suddenly last year. we never found the true cause but it’s believed to have been lymphoma. i now suggest that people get info on the littermates if possible as well as the mother and have the most thorough exams they can before babies come home. or, adopt a cat a little older than a kitten so they can deal with more invasive tests like an x ray. yes, i know it is a LOT of money to spend for a cat you may not even be adopting, but it will end up costing you a lot more in the future if there are problems. of course this is personally subjective but that is my renewed opinion.

thank you for all your advice. picking up spoil foods and whatnot later today and some pedialyte just in case.

 

[Furballsmom]

WOW

 

[SiameseMummy]

I'm glad you've got some more information on this and can now decide how best to move forward. I know it has been hard for you, especially considering what happened with Mowy

The clopidogrel is a tricky one as it tastes really bad to cats and will make her foam at the mouth if she tastes it. We ended up crushing it and putting it in a beef mince ball which she would eat. However, this was a risk on our part as beef mince is high fat which can apparently lead to pancreatitis but we had a shorter prognosis that your baby (6 months) so we took the risk to minimise the stress. We discussed all of this with our vet. I would suggest discussing options with your vet too - I believe you can get it compounded into a gel in the US or maybe you could use raw cat food instead of beef mince.

The clopidogrel is not a blood thinner, it actually coats the platelets to prevent them sticking together and forming a clot. This means that if you do miss a day you still have a good amount of coated platelets and so she still will have that protection - much better than a normal blood thinner.

I never had a problem getting the furosemide or benazapril in her. The furosemide is the most important drug she's on as it will help to prevent fluid build up in her lungs.

Keep a close eye on her resting breathing rate as its a great indicator of how she's doing.

Tesla actually got much better when first on the drugs. Becoming very playful and her heart murmer even disappeared for a bit.

I have everything crossed that Lily's sister doesn't have this too.

 

[kmoulus]

Hi there. I'm so glad you got some answers and I want you to know that cats can live a good life with cardiac disease. Some longer, some shorter, but they can be stable and happy for a while.

My Speedy has advanced HCM, three years ago she got a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. She has defied every diagnosis and prognosis, and continues to be stable. This is an unusual outcome, and I believe Speedy's success is mostly due to the ease with which Speedy takes medication, and my diligent attention to her diet.

She takes furosemide and plavix along with vetmedin (aka pimobendan, makes the heart beat stronger), atenolol (beta blocker) and baby aspirin. In general, Speedy loves taking pills and will eat almost anything inside a treat. The exception is plavix, she detests it and also will foam at the mouth. I conceal it in a bit of greenies pill pocket and pop it in her mouth and nwadays it goes down pretty easy.

Did you talk to your vet about fluids and food? Furosemide will make your cat drink a lot and pee a lot. Also you might ask about appropriate sodium intake. Speedy has been on a reduced sodium diet. She has eaten mostly Weruva wet food for the last three years. However, it can be difficult for cardiac patients to maintain their weight and of course low salt food is not so tasty and who wants to eat that? So ask your vet.