Hi All!

I'm new to this site and thought i'd join to hopefully be able to speak to owners who may unfortunately be going through what we are now.

Last night our 13 year old cat Biggles started with really bad breathing problems. We had to take to emergency vet (he is still there for his 2nd night tonight). He has been diagnosed with heart failure (quite severe as well). He has responded to diuretics and oxygen and is much more comfortable this evening when we went to visit.

The emergency animal hospital has said we need to get him seen by a vet with cardiology interest asap for an echocardiogram and possibly more appropriate optimal treatment. From what i've read on the internet his prognosis is not that good (anywhere from a couple of months to no more than 3 years ).

Does anybody on here have any experience of heart failure in cats! It came on so quickly i was unbelievable We live in Leeds.

Sorry Vickie I haven't got any advice. Hopefully someone will come along on here.
Do you have him insured?
Also has the vet reccomended any vet that deals in Cardiology?
Welcome to the forum, just sorry for what you are going through right now.

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OO, I do - my 5 year old Birman was diagnosed 3 years ago - we went through all the very expensive tests - the bill came to £2500 - she has one of the worst cases possible. SHe is on beta blockers every day - was given 6 months max to live and is still with us 3 years later, if you have insurance get the tests done. If not they know what it is and can prescribe appropriately. He may not last long (Minnii could go any day) or he may do you proud and last a few more years. Enjoy each day as it comes. A special hug for him.

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

Thanks for your replies. Spid yours is inspiring and thanks for the advice.

We have a cardiology appt booked in one week for an echocardiogram (an ultra sound of his heart). He is now on diuretics, and ACE inhibitor and a potassium supplement (which will probably stop at some point). He might be started on aspirin to reduce chance of thrombus.

I have been doing some reading on this and i am actually a cardiac nurse. Many of the treatments and tests are the same as for us humans.

He's home now and looks remarkably fine. He's eating well and drinking lots (to be expected because of the diuretics

We are optimistic but with a sense of realism over the situation. We know he might go on for a few more years or it may only be a few more weeks or months. So lots of cuddles for biggles and lots of fingers crossed.

My dog had cardiac failure. We took him to the vets when he developed a cough, and were told his heart murmur was now a grade 9 and his heart was failing.

Although they told us he probably had a month at best, he had 8 healthy months, and 2 more slightly-less healthy ones. Unfortunately, the medication stopped working in the end and he was put to sleep last Christmas.

At the start of his treatment we weren't really given any advice about how to make his life easier, but when we worked it out he seemed much better. I'd stop access to the stairs, and remove any toys which get your cat too excited. You want to encourage a calm, regular heartbeat, with little excitement - the drugs have to work twice as hard to keep the heart working if its going faster then normal.

I'm studying veterinary science and am currently interested in specializing in the heart - if you have any other questions I'm surrounded by books,lecturers and vets full of knowledge!

I hope your cat feels better soon, and has a good, long life.

EllesBelles thankyou very much. I spoke to the vet a little earlier as i was concerned about his fluid intake and wether we should restrict it...she said not.

We're not sure of the grading of Biggles Heart failure yet. He was diagnosed with a murmur about 6 months ago. But the vets at the time didn't act on this probably as he was asymptomatic.

Vet said yesterday that he probably has quite severe failure as it is typical for cats to present at later stages (their physiology compensates very well in earlier stages and makes detection of symptoms virtually impossible).

His respiratory rate now at rest is approx 25-35 breaths per minute which i believe is about normal.

I suppose echo test next friday will tell the vet a great deal more.

Giving him his tablets is our main problem at the moment! He fights like a lion and it's a deffo two person job (complete with gardening gloves!).

You've probably already tried this, but wrapping them in ham worked well for us. After a few months we had to watch him carefully afterwards...he worked out that if he held it in his mouth and spat it out, he'd get more ham. Was much easier then trying to get him to take them otherwise!

We also found that he needed to wee a lot more at night because of the diuretics, although the dose can be altered to have more in the day and less at night to compensate for this if necessary. If your cat has a litter tray it's probably not a big problem for you...although I'd check once in a while to make sure he hasn't wet himself, Jaz did that accidentally sometimes. It was like he hadn't noticed...mostly when he slept on his side.

Cats are bad for hiding the symptoms of cardiac problems, so it is likely his heart won't be in good shape - don't let that upset you too much, though. As soon as he is on the right rate of medication, you should see a big improvement, and he'll need some life changes but there is no reason why he can't be as happy as he was before. Especially as his respiration is still so good!

I'll have a look through my vet books and see if there is any other tips in there. I hope he is comfortable for now, and that the vets can tell you more soon. The not knowing is quite difficult. Is he insured?

Hi EllesBelles.

Not tied the ham thing might give that a go (well will deffo give it a go!).

He's not insured unfortunately and i've already taken a big hit for his recent treatment. I guess the echo won't be cheap either. But i'm not bothered i'll pay whatever it takes.

Do you know if any of his medication has other side effects? He seems a bit listless really...he's not quite his usual self. But then he was at deaths door less than 48hrs ago.

He is on frusemide 20mg (3 x daily) and an ACE inhibitor ( fortekor pal 2.5mg once daily) and a potassium supplement to get his electrolytes back in balance.....tumil-k (though i guess he'll come off that in due course).

I'm wondering if it is standard practice to commence beta blocker as well......vet said cardiologist might start aspirin as he may be at risk of thrombus within his heart due to poor function (but again guess we'll know more about that after echo). I'm sure glad of my background in cardiology as it makes things a lot easier to understand.

Hi

Been looking at the internet and it seems there is an association between steroids and heart failure. Our cat was given a steroid injection 48hrs prior to developing the severe heart failure symptoms.

Apparently the injection won't have caused the heart failure as that will already have been there to some degree. But there is strong evidence that it could well have made his condition more serious.

The vets knew about his existing heart murmer and heart failure before they gave him this shot! I will be asking serious questions when we take him to see our vet on tuesday. Mainly why was he given this shot with existing heart problems!?

I really don't mean to be cruel, but hes 13...do you think its in his best interests to keep him? Drugs can only do so much..