I'm at the beginning of my cat's hypertrophic cardiomyopathy journey

Antonio65

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I've noticed my cat has had a big increase in water intake and urination. I was told that could happen a bit with Plavix, but this feels like a lot. Anybody have any thoughts? I'm gonna give my vet a call tomorrow because wow, this is getting to be a good bit of pee.
Are you able to tell how much water he drinks daily? I mean, do you have a bowl for water, or does he drink from taps, fountains, else? In the case of a bowl, you could weigh it when you fill it with fresh water, and weigh again before emptying it to refill it.
I used to do this when my cat was sick and I thought she was drinking a lot. She was on a diuretic too. What I noticed, though, was that the diuretic was sort of dehydrating her. Despite the whole amount of water she would drink, the moisture of the wet food and the sub-Q's I was giving her, her hydration was poor due to the massive urination.
Are you also able to tell if your cat is hydrated? Skin test on the back?
 

Judah7

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Are you able to tell how much water he drinks daily? I mean, do you have a bowl for water, or does he drink from taps, fountains, else? In the case of a bowl, you could weigh it when you fill it with fresh water, and weigh again before emptying it to refill it.
I used to do this when my cat was sick and I thought she was drinking a lot. She was on a diuretic too. What I noticed, though, was that the diuretic was sort of dehydrating her. Despite the whole amount of water she would drink, the moisture of the wet food and the sub-Q's I was giving her, her hydration was poor due to the massive urination.
Are you also able to tell if your cat is hydrated? Skin test on the back?

First thing that comes to mind is Diabetes. There is a certain litter that you can use so you can do utine dip stick. My oldest cat,. ChooChoo was my first and only experience with a cat with hyperglycemia-high sugar or glucose urine dip sticks daily, insulin and shots every morning. But you definitely need to see vet for diagnosis. Btw, ChooChoo died at age 23 and lived a full wonderful Kitty Cat life. Even tho diabetes is a serious disease and requires 7 day medical attention, it was all worth it and I wouldn’t trade a second of my time with her. I should be so lucky. Lol
 
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nartyteek

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Are you able to tell how much water he drinks daily? I mean, do you have a bowl for water, or does he drink from taps, fountains, else? In the case of a bowl, you could weigh it when you fill it with fresh water, and weigh again before emptying it to refill it.
I used to do this when my cat was sick and I thought she was drinking a lot. She was on a diuretic too. What I noticed, though, was that the diuretic was sort of dehydrating her. Despite the whole amount of water she would drink, the moisture of the wet food and the sub-Q's I was giving her, her hydration was poor due to the massive urination.
Are you also able to tell if your cat is hydrated? Skin test on the back?
It could be as much as three times the volume as usual. Although, now you're making me realize that his taste has changed since he started his meds, and he's eating more dry food. He passes all the hydration tests with flying colors. He looks and feels great. I'm touching base with the vet today so we'll see. He did have a mysterious urination issue when he was initially seen, too, so it's worth revisiting.
 
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nartyteek

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I have some experience with feline diabetes as well. He just turned 16, so that's definitely a possibility.
 

amandag1

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I've noticed my cat has had a big increase in water intake and urination. I was told that could happen a bit with Plavix, but this feels like a lot. Anybody have any thoughts? I'm gonna give my vet a call tomorrow because wow, this is getting to be a good bit of pee.
Is he on lasix? If he has hcm he should be on lasix which will make him pee alot alot and that is normal
 
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nartyteek

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So, it turns out that sitting on his bum while healing from a broken hip and turning 16 years old and having all this other stuff going on may have decreased his ability to process sugars. His bloodwork was great, but his pee was full of sugar. I put him on low-glycemic food and almost immediately the volume of urine went back to normal. So I guess this is more of an old age thing than a HCM thing. And when he was recovering from the broken hip, I was doting on him to a probably-irresponsible degree, if I'm being honest!
 
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nartyteek

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Uggggh, so it looks like maybe his weight gain during recovery has led to a touch of the old diabetic mellitus. He's already responding so well to the insulin just two weeks in, so I'm not too upset. Maybe it was the steroid shots, who can say. I'll be seeking out diabetic-related posts now.
 

Antonio65

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It seems that as soon as you're out of an issue, you step into another one :(
This is how it goes with senior cat. Hopefully it is just something related to him being slightly overweight.
 
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nartyteek

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It seems that as soon as you're out of an issue, you step into another one :(
This is how it goes with senior cat. Hopefully it is just something related to him being slightly overweight.
That's life, right? One damned thing after another. But honestly, every day with an elderly pet is a gift. It's cheesy, but it's how I feel. I'm very lucky he chose me to be his guardian. We're already going to be decreasing his insulin dose soon, and I'm lucky enough to be in a town with a good diabetes specialist, so I'll probably be headed that way in the coming weeks.
 
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nartyteek

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Wow, it looks like remission might be possible. Fingers crossed, but we caught it before major symptoms, we hit hard, and we stuck to the diet. I'm blown away that this he is responding so well after less than a month of treatment. This cat is like teflon. But my reading has shown me that remission tends to happen for cats that make big strides early on, and lucky for him I've got nothing better to do in quarantine. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high. But regardless, he's doing great!
 

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Just wanted to say Hi! I am at the early stages of a HCM diagnosis too with my 13 year old cat.
His littermate just passed in January from CHF which was a complete, devastating surprise. The attending vet said it was genetic, so we got his brother a cardio blood test, levels were high, then went to a Cardio specialist and sure enough, he's got HCM. No CHF yet. He's on Plavix. We got vetmedin too, but we took him off of that as he's going through a tough time right now, we think from a round of vaccines. Good luck with your kitties!
 
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nartyteek

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And now we're starting on Vetmedin and Enalapril. It can have decent side effects, but it's all good so far! He had a fun little side adventure that involved a dental infection, and we're trying to see if we can get him in shape fine enough for surgery. It's not an emergency, so we'll see where the drugs get him in three months or so.
 

all4mom2

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It depends on the degree of the disease; on the other hand, it can kill quickly. I've had THREE boys affected (Norwegian Forest, Domestic Shorthair, and Maine Coon; it seems to affect all breeds, but mostly males). The first died in surgery at age two; only a necropsy revealed it (no symptoms). The second I had to euthanize after he was paralyzed by a saddle thrombosis as a result of it at age 13. The third showed some signs of slowing down, but was age 15 and never energetic to begin with; he suddenly decompensated with cardiogenic shock. What prompted the testing and diagnosis?
 
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nartyteek

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It depends on the degree of the disease; on the other hand, it can kill quickly. I've had THREE boys affected (Norwegian Forest, Domestic Shorthair, and Maine Coon; it seems to affect all breeds, but mostly males). The first died in surgery at age two; only a necropsy revealed it (no symptoms). The second I had to euthanize after he was paralyzed by a saddle thrombosis as a result of it at age 13. The third showed some signs of slowing down, but was age 15 and never energetic to begin with; he suddenly decompensated with cardiogenic shock. What prompted the testing and diagnosis?
Thanks for sharing your experiences. No symptoms or anything like that. It was just a coincidence that he happened to break his hip, and I wanted him evaluated for surgery just in case something slid out of alignment, and something looked fudgy on his blood-work. So we kept going with various tests until we found the culprit. Even now, he's still a lucky, energetic super-senior with no obvious symptoms.
 
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nartyteek

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Nothing of interest to report, thankfully! Steady as she goes, but we got some professional photos, tintypes to be exact since this is Virginia and we do that sort of thing, and I've never had professional photos taken of a pet. But 16 years is a milestone to be celebrated! We had a great time. He's well trained to hold still after a year of medical stuff, so it was a breeze.
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di and bob

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Yes it is! Beautiful pictures, what a lasting memory!
My Burt was diagnosed with this around ten years old, he developed a cough and was on Lasix daily for the next six years. He, unfortunately, developed a tumor in his intestines at age sixteen and died that fall, but I am so very grateful for every single year I had with that beautiful gentle boy. He is the grey and white in my avatar.
 
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nartyteek

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Yes it is! Beautiful pictures, what a lasting memory!
My Burt was diagnosed with this around ten years old, he developed a cough and was on Lasix daily for the next six years. He, unfortunately, developed a tumor in his intestines at age sixteen and died that fall, but I am so very grateful for every single year I had with that beautiful gentle boy. He is the grey and white in my avatar.
I think the diagnosis has made me appreciate every day even more. It's hard to forget his mortality when I have to pill him five times a day.
 
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