- Joined
- Sep 4, 2014
- Messages
- 67
- Purraise
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Hi Cat friends,
I'm so glad this site exists when I need some guidance from cat lovers. My 15 year-old female cat was diagnosed earlier this year with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She threw 2 clots in Feb and March, after the one in March we switched out Plavix for Enoxaparin sodium, the most aggressive treatment available for her condition. She is also taking Enalapril 1x a day. The Enoxaparin is a HUGE expense for us, but we have done it because we love our girl and she deserves the best life possible. She has great quality of life and isn't suffering.
In the past month and a half, she lost a ton of weight. In August during her annual vet visit she weighed 12 lbs. Yesterday she weighed 10 lbs. Her appetite has increased as well. Her diagnosis was confirmed via bloodwork that she has hyperthyroidism.
This makes me feel sad and guilty. Not just the stress of a "new disease" we have to treat in addition to her major heart problem (and another thing that could take her from us, since hyperthyroid can cause heart problems from what I gather) but that hyperthyroidism is what took my Frodo from us in 2014. We pilled him briefly but didn't keep it up, because it didn't seem to be helping. At the time, surgery and radioactive iodine were not options for financial reasons. By the time he fell really ill, it was too late for treatments and he had to be put down. It was the most awful day of my life, and I have felt guilt ever since that I didn't do EVERYTHING in my power to save him. My husband feels the same way...if we had known what the untreated hyperthyroid would end up as--we would have done more. My heart aches and I wish I could go back and do things differently.
With Princess, our 15 year-old, we've done everything to save her. In 2014 she had fatty liver disease and we ended up with a feeding tube to get her eating again (it worked, she lived). We've done the most expensive treatments for her HCM, including scans and fairly frequent vet and cardiologist visits. We fully plan to give her the pills for her thyroid as the vet doesn't think her age and heart condition make her a good candidate for thyroidectemy or radioactive iodine since both require anasthesia.
Ugh... just rambling. It feels really fateful and awful that she has the same illness that took Frodo from us. I know nothing will bring him back. I guess I just needed to rant and perhaps hear that I wasn't a horrible person.
I'm so glad this site exists when I need some guidance from cat lovers. My 15 year-old female cat was diagnosed earlier this year with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She threw 2 clots in Feb and March, after the one in March we switched out Plavix for Enoxaparin sodium, the most aggressive treatment available for her condition. She is also taking Enalapril 1x a day. The Enoxaparin is a HUGE expense for us, but we have done it because we love our girl and she deserves the best life possible. She has great quality of life and isn't suffering.
In the past month and a half, she lost a ton of weight. In August during her annual vet visit she weighed 12 lbs. Yesterday she weighed 10 lbs. Her appetite has increased as well. Her diagnosis was confirmed via bloodwork that she has hyperthyroidism.
This makes me feel sad and guilty. Not just the stress of a "new disease" we have to treat in addition to her major heart problem (and another thing that could take her from us, since hyperthyroid can cause heart problems from what I gather) but that hyperthyroidism is what took my Frodo from us in 2014. We pilled him briefly but didn't keep it up, because it didn't seem to be helping. At the time, surgery and radioactive iodine were not options for financial reasons. By the time he fell really ill, it was too late for treatments and he had to be put down. It was the most awful day of my life, and I have felt guilt ever since that I didn't do EVERYTHING in my power to save him. My husband feels the same way...if we had known what the untreated hyperthyroid would end up as--we would have done more. My heart aches and I wish I could go back and do things differently.
With Princess, our 15 year-old, we've done everything to save her. In 2014 she had fatty liver disease and we ended up with a feeding tube to get her eating again (it worked, she lived). We've done the most expensive treatments for her HCM, including scans and fairly frequent vet and cardiologist visits. We fully plan to give her the pills for her thyroid as the vet doesn't think her age and heart condition make her a good candidate for thyroidectemy or radioactive iodine since both require anasthesia.
Ugh... just rambling. It feels really fateful and awful that she has the same illness that took Frodo from us. I know nothing will bring him back. I guess I just needed to rant and perhaps hear that I wasn't a horrible person.
And the people in your life too, for that matter, illness can sneak up on anyone, and there are always things we/they could have done, like better diet and exercise.
