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Cardiomyopathy - odd new symptom

9 replies

fairyjasmine · 21/12/2015 23:38

My 13 year old cat was diganosed with cardiomyopathy in October. Unfortunately he'd done a pretty good job of hiding his symptoms until it was too late. The vet said he was in the advanced stages but that he could give us medication to buy him some more weeks/months. While I was devestated to hear the diagnosis, he's been doing pretty well on the meds and it's been quite easy to almost forget that he's nearing the end of his life.
Last week I took him for a check up and saw a different vet. He was concerned that fluid was starting to collect in his abdomen so he's upped his meds. He now takes a heart pill once a day, a diuretic pill once a day, a liquid diuretic 3x a day and a quarter of an Asprin every 3 days. He's seeing the vet tomorrow for a review.
However, during the course of today he seems to have developed an odd symptom. His nose has become quite blocked and snotty and he's been asleep on the sofa since we got home 8 hours ago. I can see in his face that he's not feeling good, and his breathing looks more laboured again.
Is this likely to be related to the cardiomyopathy or something else? I'm pretty worried about him and am reluctant to go to bed and leave him on his own. He has been exposed to cat flu (we got a rescue cat who turned out to be poorly) but it was right at the beginning of the year and his vaccinations have always been kept up to date.

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MsMims · 21/12/2015 23:51

Afraid I don't know if the snotty nose is related but as cats with HCM can struggle to breathe anyway I'd be very concerned. Can you count his respiratory rate per minute? Does your vet operate an out of hours service? Most will at least advise you over the phone whether it sounds urgent or can wait until normal practicing hours.

Really sorry to hear about his diagnosis - my 7 year old cat was diagnosed earlier this year and it's heartbreaking. Can definitely empathise with the feeling that they don't look so unwell, it's hard to believe my lovely little cat could go at any time.

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fairyjasmine · 22/12/2015 00:03

19 breaths per minute, but they're deep. I think he's trying to breathe through a blocked nose. It doesn't look like the vet does operate out of hours but if he's still like this in the morning I'll try and get him an earlier appointment.
I'm really sorry to hear about your cat, too. It's so sad Sad.

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cozietoesie · 22/12/2015 08:38

I'm sorry your cat is having difficulty.

My (untutored) guess would be that his body and, in particular, his immune system are in trouble and that he has a dose of flu as a result. My own old boy has flu in his system and while he's always had his shots, they can't protect against everything. He started having a snotty nose when he reached 18 - I think his immune system was no longer quite up to the job. He's happy right now so things are quite good for him.

Best of luck at the vet and let us know how things go today.

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cozietoesie · 22/12/2015 08:51

PS - your vet may not, themselves, operate OOH but if not, they should have signed the practice up to an OOH service. If not - and I'd check this out with them for future reference - I'd be changing vet directly. You never know when you'll need some veterinarian input with an animal. It's like having A&E to hand.

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fairyjasmine · 22/12/2015 10:15

Sadly he'd developed an infection and while the vet said they could try and treat it, ultimately he was a very poorly cat and we agreed that the kindest thing was to have him put to sleep. I stayed with him while it happened. I'm feeling devastated and numb all at the same time. My younger daughter was with us and she got a chance to say goodbye and stroke him when he was gone to see that he really did look like he was just asleep, but my 11 year old has been at a sleepover and she has no idea what's happened because he deterioriated so quickly after she left yesterday. I feel awful that she was robbed of the opportunity to say goodbye, but he's going to be buried at home today (currently at the vet, my ex is kindly picking him up for us) so perhaps she'll get her chance then. He honestly was the most gorgeous, loveable, cuddly cat in the world Sad.
I couldn't see anything about OOH on the website but years ago I did get diverted to an OOH number when I phoned on a bank holiday. I'll look in to it.

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cozietoesie · 22/12/2015 11:49

I'm so sorry.

It sounds as if his body just wasn't coping. You did the right and loving thing for him.

It sounds as if your vet is signed up to an OOH then. Good enough.

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fairyjasmine · 22/12/2015 16:31

Thank you x

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timtam23 · 22/12/2015 16:41

So sorry fairyjasmine, RIP kitty Flowers

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MsMims · 22/12/2015 20:08

I'm so sorry Fairy

He sounds like he was a real asset to the family.

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