Rapid Breathing, Tachycardia, 17 Yr Old

[big woo]

Hi everyone I need some help. My 17 year old domestic shorthair has rapid breathing (but not open mouth panting), a heart rate of about 260, and she had an echocardiogram and a chest x-ray that revealed no heart abnormalities. She has chronic renal failure and is on methimazole twice a day for hyperthyroid. Three days before the tachycardia and rapid breathing started, she had a blood test and her thyroid was in the normal range at 3.5. Raised the methimazole dose slightly after the taquicardia began and her breathing does slow down about an hour after she gets the methimazole but a couple of hours after that her chest starts moving rapidly again. Has anyone had these issues and found a diagnosis and treatment?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I'm so sorry that your baby is dealing with all this!

Maybe I can try to call @Jessica 94 and Mango the Maine Coon

Also, for the CRF, I wondered if you're familiar with this site, and they have a support group as well;
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Support Section

 

[Mango the Maine Coon]

Hi!
I'm so sorry that your baby is dealing with all this!

Maybe I can try to call @Jessica 94 and Mango the Maine Coon

Also, for the CRF, I wondered if you're familiar with this site, and they have a support group as well;
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Support Section

So sorry to hear about your baby, I wish I had something more practical to add but my experience probably wouldn’t help here it’s too specific

 

[Mango the Maine Coon]

Sending my love and cat kisses your way

 

[big woo]

Thank you all for the fast replies. It's just a mystery. I took her to the Animal Medical Center in New York last Sunday which is a fantastic state-of-the-art facility (my vet said to take her because she doesn't work on Sundays and vet thought she needed the ECG right away due to the high heart rrate). When the ECG came out clear (after a chest x-ray at a local vet that was open on Sunday but didn't have ECG machine), not even the Animal Medical Center vet could offer an explanation. Hyper T can spike, I know that. What I'm wondering is what is the progression of hyper T when it's being treated? Does it still cause other problems even if the numbers are good?

 

[big woo]

Thank you yes I found Tanya's site when Lily stoppted eating the wet food kidney diet and I was looking for low phos alternatives. right now the only wet food she will eat is Dave's chicken and tuna. Thankfully, she still eats the Hills K/D dry food. She gets 50 ml subQ fluids twice a week.

Hi!
I'm so sorry that your baby is dealing with all this!

Maybe I can try to call @Jessica 94 and Mango the Maine Coon

Also, for the CRF, I wondered if you're familiar with this site, and they have a support group as well;
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Support Section

 

[Furballsmom]

What I'm wondering is what is the progression of hyper T when it's being treated? Does it still cause other problems even if the numbers are good?

I took a look through other TCS threads that contain the keyword tachycardia and am not finding anything that addresses your question. That's not to say it isn't there, just that I didn't find it.

Would this be something you'd want to talk more with your vet about, or a different vet or even a university veterinary medical department about?

white shadow I'm wondering if this is something that falls within your expertise?

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi big woo.

First off, I have no expertise nor in-depth experience with most of the primary issues you're dealing with, though my little white shadow had bouts of tachycardia associated with cardiomyopathy.

I have a few thoughts......

Has either your Vet or the referral centre checked her blood pressure? If not, I'd advise it. (I'm surprised at how often this is not even on the 'radar'.) Hypertension is well known in association with Hyper-T. You might want to read/skim through Helen's section on hypertension: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - All About Hypertension

Her 'Tanya' site has a really useful tool, an "Index of Symptoms & Treatments"....you might want to take a look through the 'Fast Breathing" symptom section and carefully think through each of the 'symptoms & possible causes' to see if each has been considered by the Vets....under "F" right here: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Index of Symptoms and Treatments (you might put that index away for future reference, too)

I think if I were dealing with this, I'd also put the question to the specialized online Hyper-T community.....there really isn't much that these groups haven't encountered over the years - it's little effort and the payoff could be everything. Just copy and paste your posts from here. You'll find them here: Feline Hyperthyroid Support - Yahoo Groups I don't know about 'spiking', but, levels will change/move with time.

Maybe something in there will 'click'.
.