Any advice? Old boy breathing difficulty

[Thewalker75]

Our beloved 14yr old rescue has gone from scoffing all his food in one go and leaving the house for the day as soon as my two toddlers are up and about until they're safely tucked up in bed, to not having eaten for 2 days save for some ham and lying in the most sociable seat we have in the living room all day despite the noise and chaos around him.

His breathing seems laboured and his mouth is open which I read wasnt a good sign so we phoned a vet who listened to it and said it doesn't sound worthy of an emergency visit but bring him in on monday.

Could he just have a cold or is this a sign of something worse? He normally lies on my lap in the evening but hes just sat on that chair with his mouth open making the funniest sounds. He seems alright on himself though.any advice appreciated I've convinced myself this is the beginning of something serious. Thank you.

I'm astounded that a vet said that didn't sound like an emergency. It does to me. It could be anything - including trauma. Do you have a Pets at Home near you? Their Vets for Pets are open on Sundays at normal rates.

If that were my cat, I'd want him to see a vet sooner than Monday.

I'd be at the emergency vets tonight if this w was my cat.

I'm a vet and I'm afraid I would have advised you to bring your cat straight in to be seen. Open mouth breathing is always a concern in a cat. I don't want to alarm you but cats in respiratory distress (and open mouth breathing is a sign of respiratory distress, even if the cat doesn't appear "distressed") can deteriorate quite quickly. You're within your rights to phone your vet back and ask to be seen, even if you've already spoken to them. If they won't see you (and in my opinion they should), you can phone another vet, even if you're not registered with them.

This happened to my old cat , it was heart failure and he had to be pts.. her him seen ASAP .

He did a very athletic leap off the chair and onto my lap just before we came to bed which was lovely but then he didnt seem to want to be touched and soon went back to his old position.

I should have trusted my instincts, will get him seen - had no idea pets at home had that service we have one near us so will be on to them tomorrow.

Thanks, will update.

Not all Pets at Home have a vet surgery inside. If they don't I would take to any out of hours vet.

Does anyone know if the vets4 pets charge the same as emergency vets fees? Our nearest one is miles away and our emergency vet is nearer.

They charge normal rates on Sundays. But of course you would need an appointment anyway so you will need to speak to them.

Hes going in for xrays / heart scan tomorrow.

He wasnt breathing with his mouth open when the vet saw him but she could tell he was struggling a bit and he was tacicardic (splng?). Said it might be asthma or a heart problem. Either way I cant see this being something straightforward to fix.

I know I've got to wait to find out what the problem is but dp is away and I'm sat here on my own worrying! How much do we put him through at this age?

Hes currently sprawled out on the sofa having eaten his dinner twitching from what is hopefully a lovely dream. You wouldn't think there was anything wrong.

Update for anyone who might stumble across this and have a cat with the same thing:

Its heart disease. Offered a diuretic to make him more comfortable. If that works he will be on it indefi Italy, if not after 4-5 days we will have a tough decision to make.

@Thewalker75 I am a vet with an older cat with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and an interest in heart disease.
My own cat takes Cardalis which is great two drugs in one, but I also have cats on a wide selection of drugs for their heart disease and the vast majority we can manage very well with good quality of life for a considerable period of time.
We rarely just give a diuretic now, most cats who have altered breathing ( congestive heart failure) take both a diuretic and an ACE inhibitor, some take more than one diuretic, some take anti-coagulants and quite a few take antihypertensives.

I've just got back from the emergency vets where my darling Lulu is having tests for what the vet is sure is heart disease/failure. I can't believe it. She was her usual self, I thought, but then starting sort of coughing and then she just couldn't breathe and went completley floppy . I'm beside myself.

She only had her annual check up a couple of months ago and was fine. But she's always been a bit on the delicate side of good health. I don't know what this all means until the vet has done the ultrasound but she said if she has to administer further treatment or Lulu deteriorates, she's going to phone me. I can't believe it, she's my girl and if I hadn't taken her to the vet she'd have drowned.

Thank you@Lonecatwithkitten, yes the vet did mention the blood thinners and some drugs she said weren't official but were often given to cats with heart disease but was really only pushing the diaretics for now as, bearing in mind his age, we really just want to keep him.comfortable so I'm hoping this will work. He seemed a lot brighter this morning but I dont relish the idea of sticking a syringe in his mouth twice a day for the rest of his life ifthis morning was anything to go by! (cant put it on food as we have another cat).

@wonkytonkwoman I'm sorry to hear about your cat I hope the results are positive. It's horrible now knowing how they are feeling. Do you have insurance? Our mistake was not getting it knowing that it's looking like regular medication now.

The vet has phoned. She has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and is in heart failure which doesn't offer a hopeful prognosis, "guarded" was the term the vet used. I have a 4pm appt to go over the xrays and discuss everything including medication. I don't have insurance, no. I will keep her going as long as it's kind to do so though. I'm shocked I had no idea before she suddenly collapsed, no symptoms at all ever before..