About two weeks ago my sweet guy Benny start having some trouble while purring. His purr became much noisier and after a few seconds he needed to open his mouth to get enough air. I originally thought/hoped he just had a bad upper respiratory thing going on, made a vet appt. He got really stressed out/scared at the vet. Vet noticed his breathing was labored and discovered his color was very pale. Benny was given a mild tranq and bit of pain meds to calm him down enough for x-rays. I could tell the vet was worried Benny would go into cardiac arrest during x-rays which of course freaked me out. We left Benny at the vet but did not go home, I didn't want to get an emercency call and be 40 minutes away.
He made it through x-rays and turns out he has a peritinealpericardiac diaphragmatic hernia which has really crowded his heart & lungs. And we only have this diagnosis because he has come down with bronchitis which exacerbated everything enough so he had symptoms I actually noticed. The vet sent us & Benny home with steroids & a bronchodilator to treat the bronchitis.
Let me back up. At the time of diagnosis when talking to the vet we discussed that most likely this hernia was congenital. A lot of fat has filled in the chest cavity but also some of his liver. Benny has no other symptoms other than some difficulty getting enough air while purring. He only opens his mouth to catch air when vigourously purring....he has always been a loud, passionate purrer. Benny is 13 yrs old and fairly mellow. We also have his brother/litter mate who is much more of a "crazy" personality. Benny sleeps a lot, but loves to get attention & lives on my lap when I'm watching tv. He is a very big, long-haired, tabby mix. Last year the vet techs decided he might also be part Maine Coon. Benny is almost 15 pounds. He has always been a big, tall, long kitty. His nickname is 'Big Kitty'.
Anyway......(can you tell I'm unbottling a bit.....so much in my head right now)....last saturday when we got this diagnosis the vet was leaning on the 'make him comfortable, treat the bronchitis, avoid stressing him or freaking him out at all costs and here's some brochures for the three best specialty/surgical vetirinary practices in the area if the situation becomes emergent but he's a 13 yr old cat so why put him through such an invasive surgery?' I agreed at the time. But now.....
Yesterday I called the vet's office again, I've been concerned that the open mouth catching air while purring has not resolved...guess I naively thought the medicine would resolve the bronchitis in a few days. So I called to ask about it. Benny is better than he was last week, in great spirits....absolutely LOVES the Salmon Pill Pockets he gets 3 times a day and mostly back to his regular sleepy life. I left a msg with the front desk. Later that night, last night another vet from the practice called me back. She was excited by the diagnosis as it's pretty rare. She talked with me for a good long time and discussed pros & cons but was really leaning towards having the corrective surgery. So now I am so torn I can't see straight.
Expense is an issue, we are not paycheck to paycheck but we don't have much extra. We signed up for Care Credit while waiting for Benny's x-rays to be done since we didn't know what the diagnosis was going to be. I'm already considering asking family for a loan if we have the surgery.
I so wish Benny could just tell me how he's doing. He seems pretty darn good. Glad to be home, not in distress.
Ugh.....surgery or no? Has anyone been through this particular scenario with an older cat? I don't even want to think about him dying in surgery. But if surgery will greatly improve his quality of life? Extend his life? It's been recommended that he havemild tranquilizers before any future vet visits, even just for a shot or blood draw.....so how would surgery go down?
Help? I don't know what to do. I don't have to decide immediately but I just don't know where to go from here.
Thanks everybody for letting me talk about this.
Cara
He made it through x-rays and turns out he has a peritinealpericardiac diaphragmatic hernia which has really crowded his heart & lungs. And we only have this diagnosis because he has come down with bronchitis which exacerbated everything enough so he had symptoms I actually noticed. The vet sent us & Benny home with steroids & a bronchodilator to treat the bronchitis.
Let me back up. At the time of diagnosis when talking to the vet we discussed that most likely this hernia was congenital. A lot of fat has filled in the chest cavity but also some of his liver. Benny has no other symptoms other than some difficulty getting enough air while purring. He only opens his mouth to catch air when vigourously purring....he has always been a loud, passionate purrer. Benny is 13 yrs old and fairly mellow. We also have his brother/litter mate who is much more of a "crazy" personality. Benny sleeps a lot, but loves to get attention & lives on my lap when I'm watching tv. He is a very big, long-haired, tabby mix. Last year the vet techs decided he might also be part Maine Coon. Benny is almost 15 pounds. He has always been a big, tall, long kitty. His nickname is 'Big Kitty'.
Anyway......(can you tell I'm unbottling a bit.....so much in my head right now)....last saturday when we got this diagnosis the vet was leaning on the 'make him comfortable, treat the bronchitis, avoid stressing him or freaking him out at all costs and here's some brochures for the three best specialty/surgical vetirinary practices in the area if the situation becomes emergent but he's a 13 yr old cat so why put him through such an invasive surgery?' I agreed at the time. But now.....
Yesterday I called the vet's office again, I've been concerned that the open mouth catching air while purring has not resolved...guess I naively thought the medicine would resolve the bronchitis in a few days. So I called to ask about it. Benny is better than he was last week, in great spirits....absolutely LOVES the Salmon Pill Pockets he gets 3 times a day and mostly back to his regular sleepy life. I left a msg with the front desk. Later that night, last night another vet from the practice called me back. She was excited by the diagnosis as it's pretty rare. She talked with me for a good long time and discussed pros & cons but was really leaning towards having the corrective surgery. So now I am so torn I can't see straight.
Expense is an issue, we are not paycheck to paycheck but we don't have much extra. We signed up for Care Credit while waiting for Benny's x-rays to be done since we didn't know what the diagnosis was going to be. I'm already considering asking family for a loan if we have the surgery.
I so wish Benny could just tell me how he's doing. He seems pretty darn good. Glad to be home, not in distress.
Ugh.....surgery or no? Has anyone been through this particular scenario with an older cat? I don't even want to think about him dying in surgery. But if surgery will greatly improve his quality of life? Extend his life? It's been recommended that he havemild tranquilizers before any future vet visits, even just for a shot or blood draw.....so how would surgery go down?
Help? I don't know what to do. I don't have to decide immediately but I just don't know where to go from here.
Thanks everybody for letting me talk about this.
Cara