My almost 14 year old cat is having some issues and although my vet doesn't think they're heart related, others I've described his situation to continue to suggest that it is and I can't stop worrying about what I should do and how to prioritize his care. I'm on a limited budget but that said I do have a vet fund in the hundreds of dollars. But that's what I've got for the next year.
Sonny started having hacking/coughing incidents in April and in November was finally diagnosed with asthma when his coughing attacks happened more often and someone suggested it might be asthma rather than him trying to extract a hairball (which is what I thought it was). He was given prednisolone which right away seemed to put a stop to the episodes. He didn't have a single on from November until the middle of last month. Even after the dose was lowered from 5 mg 2X a day to 5mg 1X/day.
Anyway, after he began having attacks again I did more research on feline asthma and realized the harmful potential of prednisolone and that inhalers were the treatment of choice for asthma in cats. I got the inhalers and Aerokat and began his treatments, keeping him on the prednisolone for 2 weeks while the Flovent builds up in his system.
He had his first Flovent treatment Tuesday night. Wednesday night, he had a somewhat different type of coughing fit that sounded more "congested" than his asthma attacks, but I did assume it was a mild asthma attack so I gave him a dose of albuterol. His breathing for 15 minute was very loud and there was definitely some phlegm built up. Then it subsided and he was fine. This happened again the next day (yesterday), and this time I didn't administer albuterol and once again his breathing was bad for about 15 minutes.
I returned to the vet today and she listened to his heart and lungs. Someone had said it sounded like fluid was building in his lungs but she said his lungs are clear. I asked about whether it could be a heart issue and she said feline heart problems rarely present this way. Yet I continue to be told it could be a heart issue and that the prednisolone could aggravate it and I just don't know what to do at this point.
I could have the vet run all the tests (which my understanding are expensive) to diagnose a possible heart problem she doesn't think he has, for my own peace of mind, but then if it isn't his heart and IS asthma, my vet fund is nearly depleted by then and I woudln't be able to afford his asthma treatment. I've done research on heart issues in cats and I can't find anything necessarily helpful.
Sonny is not very active and hasn't been.... for quite a few years. He's always been that lazy cat content to lie in the sun, since he was a few years old (he was a MANIAC kitten). He eats and eats and eats (in fact he's overweight which I'm trying to deal with), drinks and drinks and drinks just fine, doesn't have any problem getting around, jumping, etc. He is deaf but I doubt that's a symptom of a heart issue.
I'm just confused about how people come to even have their pets diagnosed with a heart issue... a sudden crisis??
He's been on prednisolone for four months. i have a hard time believing that just now it would start aggravating an existing heart problem when two days before his phlegmy coughing started is when he went on the Flovent... I don't know, I'm just soooooo overwhelmed and exhausted right now. I felt almost at peace with the asthma stuff when I found out about the inhalers but now to have people say his heart could be going... I can't get a peaceful night of rest without wondering what else is wrong with him. And whether I should have all those tests run or not when the vet said she doesn't hear any murmur and doesn't see heart problems presenting this way. Is peace of mind worth depleting my vet fund that I need to pay for the condition he HAS been diagnosed with? I guess the obvious answer is no but I still can't sleep at night without worrying if I don't do the tests and it is his heart that he'll die and it'll be my fault.
Sonny started having hacking/coughing incidents in April and in November was finally diagnosed with asthma when his coughing attacks happened more often and someone suggested it might be asthma rather than him trying to extract a hairball (which is what I thought it was). He was given prednisolone which right away seemed to put a stop to the episodes. He didn't have a single on from November until the middle of last month. Even after the dose was lowered from 5 mg 2X a day to 5mg 1X/day.
Anyway, after he began having attacks again I did more research on feline asthma and realized the harmful potential of prednisolone and that inhalers were the treatment of choice for asthma in cats. I got the inhalers and Aerokat and began his treatments, keeping him on the prednisolone for 2 weeks while the Flovent builds up in his system.
He had his first Flovent treatment Tuesday night. Wednesday night, he had a somewhat different type of coughing fit that sounded more "congested" than his asthma attacks, but I did assume it was a mild asthma attack so I gave him a dose of albuterol. His breathing for 15 minute was very loud and there was definitely some phlegm built up. Then it subsided and he was fine. This happened again the next day (yesterday), and this time I didn't administer albuterol and once again his breathing was bad for about 15 minutes.
I returned to the vet today and she listened to his heart and lungs. Someone had said it sounded like fluid was building in his lungs but she said his lungs are clear. I asked about whether it could be a heart issue and she said feline heart problems rarely present this way. Yet I continue to be told it could be a heart issue and that the prednisolone could aggravate it and I just don't know what to do at this point.
I could have the vet run all the tests (which my understanding are expensive) to diagnose a possible heart problem she doesn't think he has, for my own peace of mind, but then if it isn't his heart and IS asthma, my vet fund is nearly depleted by then and I woudln't be able to afford his asthma treatment. I've done research on heart issues in cats and I can't find anything necessarily helpful.
Sonny is not very active and hasn't been.... for quite a few years. He's always been that lazy cat content to lie in the sun, since he was a few years old (he was a MANIAC kitten). He eats and eats and eats (in fact he's overweight which I'm trying to deal with), drinks and drinks and drinks just fine, doesn't have any problem getting around, jumping, etc. He is deaf but I doubt that's a symptom of a heart issue.
I'm just confused about how people come to even have their pets diagnosed with a heart issue... a sudden crisis??
He's been on prednisolone for four months. i have a hard time believing that just now it would start aggravating an existing heart problem when two days before his phlegmy coughing started is when he went on the Flovent... I don't know, I'm just soooooo overwhelmed and exhausted right now. I felt almost at peace with the asthma stuff when I found out about the inhalers but now to have people say his heart could be going... I can't get a peaceful night of rest without wondering what else is wrong with him. And whether I should have all those tests run or not when the vet said she doesn't hear any murmur and doesn't see heart problems presenting this way. Is peace of mind worth depleting my vet fund that I need to pay for the condition he HAS been diagnosed with? I guess the obvious answer is no but I still can't sleep at night without worrying if I don't do the tests and it is his heart that he'll die and it'll be my fault.