Cats with heart failure HCM advice please :(

[KellyM1998]

Hi all, took my 9 month old kitten to the vets yesterday, was told he has a grade 4/5 murmur. He is having a scan on Monday to see if he has heart disease.

He has been seen by the vets 3 times before and nothing was picked up.

just wondering, if anyone else can share their experience if they’ve had a cat with a murmur / heart disease.

Worried I’m not going to get much time with him :(

Mine had his scan today, they said he has a hole in his heart and HCM. He’s been started on Atenalol and needs to go back in two weeks :(

Oh no, poor baby, I'm very sorry to read this! Did the vet say anything about the prognosis / what stage the HCM currently is? How much of a problem is the hole in his heart?

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that the medication does its job and kitty still has many good years ahead of him!

She said there was a lot of thickening. The hole in his heart is small so may not cause a lot of problems in itself. He’s just very unfortunate to have been born with it. I’ll give him the best life I can whilst I’ve still got him :(

One of my cats developed heart failure following the tremendous shock of being attacked and nearly killed by a viscous dog. She was on atenolol for the rest of her life - another 7 years or so - and died aged 14.

Your little fellow's condition is genetic and thus very different. As a cat shelter volunteer I have unfortunately come across quite a few kittens who had to be euthanized due to holes in their heart and heart murmur.

I'm not saying this will necessarily happen to your kitty, but please be alert and consider your options if things don't go well. Ask yourself whether more and more scans and investigations and potential surgical interventions are in his best interest.

Unfortunately, veterinarians have been known to pursue treatment when it might be kinder to PTS. Particularly if the pet is insured. I have had to stand by while a friend continued to explore every possible avenue, which she now regrets.

I hope your kitty has a better outcome.

That doesn't sound good, I'm so sorry. Hopefully the medication will slow down progression as much as possible. Our boy also had a lot of thicking fairly soon after the initial diagnosis but still had a few really good years afterwards. Hope it will be the same for your cat. You sound lovely and I'm sure you'll make the very best of the time he has.❤

Thanks for your response. I know it would be kinder to get him PTS if he did start to develop symptoms but for now he is a very happy kitten oblivious to everything.

He has had his scan now, I know what is wrong for him and will take him back for his check up in two weeks. I am aware that’s is nothing else I can do sadly. Just go to give him a good life whilst he’s with me.

I also agree with FlowerArranger's post re. considering how much / what kind of intervention is still in kitty's best interest once the condition has progressed to a late stage. We probably should have had our boy PTS and not tried prolong his life with more and more meds he hated taking in the weeks before his death. He died of a heart attack on the way to the vet and while it was fairly quick, his cries still haunt me and I wish it would have been more peaceful.

Oh bless you. I’m so sorry to hear that. I will definitely have him PTS when the disease progresses. I would hate to see him in pain and would not want to put him through that.

@RedCatWhoGotTheCream 💐💐💐

Thank you for the kind words, KellyM1998 and ShellsOnTheBeach! Cats tend to mask any pain or discomfort so expertly that waiting that little bit too long at the end of their lives is an easy trap to fall into, I think. Hopefully, we won't have to make a decision like this again any time soon (I have two 7 month old kittens sleeping next to me right now), but I've certainly learned from this and would let a pet go sooner next time.

Sorry, KellyM1998, I didn't mean to me-rail your thread. All the best for you and your lovely kitten! 💐

Sorry to hear it's definitely HCM. You will absolutely know when it is time. My girl was asymptomatic until her kidneys failed. She was on Frusemide, clopidogrel, atenolol and something else. She rattled when I picked her up. She didn't suffer at all.

Thank you. How old was your girl before she passed?

She was 8. She lived for nine months after diagnosis. I'm kind of glad that it was her kidneys and not her heart that got her. He hear was improving slightly.

What was the cause for diagnosis of HCM? Did she have any symptoms?