Cat with heart failure

Bluebell1000

Hi all,

i'm not asking for veterinary advice here, just a bit of chat / support.

Our cat had 40ml fluid drained from her chest about a month ago. She's on tablets for heart failure after they found her heart muscle was enlarged. Every time we take her back to the vets for a checkup we see a different one (which we don't mind), but they all do the sharp intake of breath and give us dire warnings about how she can deteriorate really fast, how many things could go wrong at any moment etc etc.

We adopted her as an older cat with unknown history, so we're happy to have been able to give her 4 years of cuddles with us. But it's really hard having all the down side from the vets all the time. At the moment we're treating her with kid gloves - I dashed outside and bought her inside this morning, as I saw another cat in the garden, and knew if she spotted it she'd be running off after it, in attack mode. I don't want to be too overprotective but don't want her to have any unnecessary risks...

I know we have to be realistic and just enjoy the time we have left with her, and I was wondering if others could share their experiences of living with a cat with heart problems? As I said, we're only getting the negatives from the vets, so it'd be nice to hear others experiences (good and bad). Thank you.

Artytarty

Ah, that's rough on you and your cat.
I have two Maine Coons and spend a lot of time worrying about them developing HCM. When the vet checks their hearts for ages I can hardly breathe.
If I were you I would just continue with the love and care you are giving her and the vet trips when necessary.pre empt the vets doom and gloom speech by getting in there first along the lines of:
This is "x" we know she is in heart of failure and what may happen. We are fully aware of that, but can you do anything today to ease her symptoms?

Celli

My friends cat Annie had heart failure, after diagnosis she went on for another year and half before she died suddenly.
My friend didn't cosset her at all, just gave her her med's and allowed her to carry on as normal, she was about fourteen when she eventually died.
She did have to get her chest drained twice , but once they got her medication right, you'd never have known anything was wrong with her.
Hope you have a good while yet with your girl

meritaten

oh dear - its bad enough living with a cat with a poor prognosis without having to endure vet visits!
I had a cat with feline aids - I wont go into his background but suffice to say that I er 'rescued' him and then found out about his 'cat aids' and was told he was near death. well he got nursed back to, not health but an acceptable level and he was a happy cat. I and everyone else adored him. but, every bluddy vet would shake his/her head and predict 'he has about a few weeks or less' - this went on for three and a half YEARS!' he had monthly check ups and for the first year I left the vets in tears. convinced that Nicki was about to expire.
hun, vets are not gods - the cat will live its allotted time. and the cat and you will know when the end is near.

Red_Tabby

A previous cat of mine had a happy and fulfilled life of 14 years.

Over a week or so I noticed she had enlarged pupils; a trip to the vet revealed that not only did she have high blood pressure, but also kidney failure and a heart murmur!

The decision was taken to treat the high blood pressure first as this was the most life threatening. For some weeks, all seemed to be going well, the tablets were working... then one morning she simply had breakfast went out to enjoy the garden and died in an instant, she wouldn't have known a thing about it.

Whilst the knowledge she was unwell meant we knew her time was short we didn't change the way we were with her.

She was a very 'superior' long haired cat and I have since referred to her as a 'load of fur and attitude'!
But we loved her all the same and her last few weeks were no different to the rest of her happy life.

Enjoy the time you have and keep cuddling your lovely cat.

scaredy_cat

my old Sugar cat had a slight heart murmur, which got bad when she was about 16yo, she went blind and was on tablets - atenonol and istin until she had to be pts at the age of 22yr, as she had a stroke. She would still wander about the flat, climb up and sleep on the clothes mountain and wake from a deep sleep at the smell of fresh baked sausage rolls!

Bluebell1000

Thanks all. I am finding out about the 'getting tablets right' part of things. The vets have been gradually decreasing Bessie's diuretic dose. Monday evening she was breathing very heavily so we gave her a tablet then, and have now increased it to a half-tablet a day (she had been down to every other day). She's much more comfortable now, so fingers crossed that she's now at the right level of tablets.

On the plus side, she had a full check and scans, blood tests etc, when she first went into the vets, and so we know that she's got no other issues or health problems at the moment! She has changed though - she won't go upstairs any more. I'm not really sure why, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her otherwise. She used to always wait at the bottom of the stairs for me in the mornings, and I'd have to carry her upstairs, then we'd have a cuddle on the bed before I got dressed for work in the morning.

Celli

That all sounds pretty positive :j

Bluebell1000

Sadly we had our cat put to sleep yesterday. She had stopped eating and was clearly unhappy, so we had to make the decision to take her back to the vets. Thank you to everyone who commented and we did enjoy her last few weeks with us. I wish we'd had more time but at least she had a happy life with us for a few years (we adopted her as an older cat aged 10ish).

Polmop

AW So sorry for you, but you gave her a happy life

Artytarty

Och, Im sorry to hear this. Glad you enjoyed all the time you had with her.
Update from me too, it seems maybe one of my Maine coons had an un diagnosed heart problem as she just dropped dead last Monday.
She had got a bit slow, that's all. Does anyone know if that is a symptom of heart failure?