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- Jul 21, 2018
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I rescued Mousse a bit over a year ago. Long story short, we didn't think she would survive long and even our regular vet wasn't super optimistic. She had chronic diarrhea. She was emaciated and her nose and mouth were ulcerated. She was 10 and had recently been spayed before we brought her home but the spay site was badly infected. It took a lot of time (and money) but we got all her issues squared away. The last thing was a heart murmur. We ended up bringing her to a cardiologist hours away for a heart ultrasound. It turned out to be severe HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). The specialist was pessimistic about the prognosis and there was a lot of talk about making our time with her count, keeping her comfortable, possible heart failure, a 6 month prognosis, etc. It was absolutely heartbreaking. Here was this cat who had only experienced being a pet for a year and most of it had been spent sick. Here was a cat who went from 5lbs on adoption day to 8.4lbs a year later, whose coat was now fluffy and plushy when it had once been thin, and who loved cuddles and basking in the sun. I couldn't imagine that this was going to be it for her. That after 10 years of breeding she'd only experience one year as a beloved pet. We cried a lot that day and discussed options. We decided we would try medications to give her the best possible quality of life for however long she had left. We put her on atenolol to relax her heart, clopidogrel to thin her blood since she was at risk for a clot, and fortekor to lower her high blood pressure. She seemed to respond well to the medication. The cardiologist ran blood work and a chest x-ray at the 6 month mark and didn't note any changes but still stated that her condition was grave and not to expect much.
Fast forward to last week. We took her back to the hospital four hours away for another 6 month re-check. This time, they did a repeat ultrasound and a blood pressure monitoring. The specialist came back in and said he had good news. He said in cases this severe there is usually a predictable progression. Sometimes, it can stabilize for awhile with no progression. But, in my cat's case not only has the condition not progressed, there is improvement in the condition of her heart. The heart muscle walls aren't as thick as they were and the heart is pumping blood more efficiently. He said he is greatly surprised but happy. We are keeping her on the same medication but she is doing so well that she no longer needs 6 month ultrasounds and will only need them once a year now. He also said she is no longer on the cusp of CHF and that it wouldn't be unrealistic to expect another couple of years with her if everything continues to go well. We cried this time too but it was happy tears. We had no idea that HCM could ever improve. He was careful to remind us that this is still a severe heart condition but that improvement means we can take a bit of a breath.
As I write this, Mousse is asleep on my chair. She took my spot so I decided to sit on the floor. She deserves it. I'm beyond thankful for the fact that she will have another winter with us. She will get to sit on her window hammock and watch the snow flakes. She will get to play with my wife's Christmas ornaments and stare at the flames of my Hannukah menorah. She will have another summer with us. She'll get to spend days out on the catio watching the birds in the back yard and snoring in the sun.
Fast forward to last week. We took her back to the hospital four hours away for another 6 month re-check. This time, they did a repeat ultrasound and a blood pressure monitoring. The specialist came back in and said he had good news. He said in cases this severe there is usually a predictable progression. Sometimes, it can stabilize for awhile with no progression. But, in my cat's case not only has the condition not progressed, there is improvement in the condition of her heart. The heart muscle walls aren't as thick as they were and the heart is pumping blood more efficiently. He said he is greatly surprised but happy. We are keeping her on the same medication but she is doing so well that she no longer needs 6 month ultrasounds and will only need them once a year now. He also said she is no longer on the cusp of CHF and that it wouldn't be unrealistic to expect another couple of years with her if everything continues to go well. We cried this time too but it was happy tears. We had no idea that HCM could ever improve. He was careful to remind us that this is still a severe heart condition but that improvement means we can take a bit of a breath.
As I write this, Mousse is asleep on my chair. She took my spot so I decided to sit on the floor. She deserves it. I'm beyond thankful for the fact that she will have another winter with us. She will get to sit on her window hammock and watch the snow flakes. She will get to play with my wife's Christmas ornaments and stare at the flames of my Hannukah menorah. She will have another summer with us. She'll get to spend days out on the catio watching the birds in the back yard and snoring in the sun.