Heart murmers and fluid on lungs - *Update* Rushed to vets again

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Flame try reading the first link and the second is just the search I did giving other links

http://fabcats.org/hcm/index.html

http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=Hypotrophic+cardiomyopathy+in+cats&go=&form=QBRE

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I am sure there is someone who has a cat with this and this is a question you should be asking your vet.

If you havent done so ring him and ask.

[Flame]

Are there any members that have had to deal with this condition? If so i have a question. How long would it take for the meds to make her breath properly again as she seems to still be struggling with her breathing.

[LesleyW]

Don't be too disheartened by the diagnosis.  My George has tetralogy of fallot which is a rare heart condition which was discovered when we found he had a grade 5 heart murmur.  Basically he has four things wrong with his heart and the Cardioligist told me when he was 12 weeks old that he could not tell me how long George had.

I read as much as I could about the condition and George has to have beta blockers and aspirin and not too much exercise.  George is now 2 and a half and apart from a scare before Christmas when he did get very breathless and very blue at times, anybody who did not know his condition would not think there was anything wrong with him.  If he gets past three I know he will be doing well but at the moment I don't think even he knows he is different so the main thing is to give them quality of life not quantity.

Hope Freya responds to the medication and sending love from me and George.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Sorry to hear this 

[swampmaxmum]

what a huge worry, I'm so sorry. I really hope the meds work. Do you have to keep her quiet (no da Birds I suppose)? Don't stop hoping that she will be fine. She's been through a lot today, poor mite. Hope you have a peaceful weekend with her 

[Maddiesmum]

I hope the meds work well with her

[Flame]

She is home with 3 differant types of tablets. She has Hypotrophic cardiomyopathy so we have to see how she does on the drugs until the end of the month then we have to decide what to do with her if they are not working 

For anyone that doesnt know what the condition is the vet described it as when you hear about the footballers that walk out on to the pitch and then drop dead during the match 

[Maddiesmum]

Hope everything goes well at the vet's

[Flame]

Morning

Well she is at the vets now for the day and they said that they might use a differant gas to anesthetise her cause last time she went far to sleepy that i thought she was dead at one point.

She is just over 2 and a half years old, she hasnt had any blood tests and they havent said that they will today either but i guess if they are going to do that then they will do it while she is anesthetised. Today she is just having an x ray, ecg and a scan.

That sounds like lots of fun Ela :S

[Ela]

Heart mummers are quite common and it could be that the heart murmur and the fluid on the lungs are two different issues.

She also has these pills which must be the smallest pills in the world and we have to give her a quarter of one every 8 hours.

You need to worry when it is what must be the smallest pills in the world an you have to cut them in 8, a nightmare I can tell you, especially as you are walking to the cat with it and it falls off your finger. In fact that is exactly what happened this morning.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

if your cat is on duritics its very important that your cat does not get dehydrated.

how old is freya and have they taken blood tests.

its very important to make sure the vet gives you all the info and if necessary write down a list of all questions you want to ask and make a note of his answers.

hope all goes well tomorrow 

[Flame]

No not yet i think thats what the scans and tests are tomorrow.

[Maddiesmum]

I had experience of this with my dog.  She had to take diuretics twice a day and Fortekor and Vetmedin to regulate her heart.  My cat Dragan had a grade 4 heart murmur towards the end of his life and he was put on Fortekor with devastating results (very rare).  He did not have any problems with fluid though. 

Hope you manage to sort out the fluid and get appropriate meds for the murmur.  Did the vet say what grade it was?

[Flame]

Hi folks i hope you are all well?

Can anyone tell me anything about heart murmers and fluid on a cats lungs?

The full story is.

On monday we let the kitties out as normal and they came back just before dark as normal only Freya was breathing really fast and weezing, she has come in looking a bit flustered occasionally so we just assumed that she was a bit flustered and stunned by something. Anyway a few hours later she was still seeming to struggle to breathe so about 11 o clock we took her to the emergency vet and they said she has fluid on her lungs and sounds like she has a heart murmer so they gave her an injection and sent her home with the instructions not to let her out and to make another appointment the following day, we did and they said they had to send her for some scans so tomorrow she is at the vets first thing in the morning for the day. She also has these pills which must be the smallest pills in the world and we have to give her a quarter of one every 8 hours.

Anyway she has always coughed and tonight she had a bit of coughing fit and she is now breathing funny again.

Anyone had this kind of experiance? and what was the outcome?

Thanks