Heart disease in cats

[fankino04]

Has anyone had much experience of this, my boy was breathing rapidly on Saturday but didn't seem stressed then went down hill quickly in the night, cue visit to emergency vet, he stayed there till Sunday evening when he was discharged and we were told to take him to our own vet on Monday to sort out long term treatment for his heart. Our vets gave him 6-12 months to live and give him heart pills and diuretics. He is booked in for a check up in 2 weeks but his breathing is still rapid at times but he doesn't appear stressed. My concern is that as my partner and I both work full time if he goes downhill again when we are out he could really end up suffering,is it best to pts before he gets worse or might the drugs just take a few days to work, I don't want him in pain and suffering on his own but he seems mostly relaxed so don't want to give up on him either, he's 9 by the way.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Yes and the blimmin thing is refusing to die! The Vet is amazed at how well he's doing and it's over three years since diagnosis (congestive heart failure).

The key is getting his medication right and we have had to up the doses and give him steroids too. At the moment he's on Libeo, Pred and Fortekor. He did have Furosemide previously but it was discovered that he was better on a 1/2 dose morning and night rather than one big dose, so now we have Libeo which is easier to break in two. He's also got the right temperament to cope with having tablets twice daily, which has of course made a huge difference. He has had a few 'crashes' and even collapsed once, but we take him down to the vets and he has responded amazingly well to the treatment each time. After each crash his medication was adjusted.

He's a happy (and naughty) boy and most people wouldn't know that he was so ill. He does have a good cough when he first gets up after sleeping and can be a bit wheezy before coughing.

 

[Honeylight]

Yes, we had a cat who lived a further two years on Fortekor, Aspirin, Furosemide and another drug he would eat with pleasure. He was initially stabilised at a veterinary hospital and then attended 3 month check ups with echocardiograms and ECGs. We had pet insurance which covered his treatment. He got into the routine of having his daily medication and would be waiting near the drawer where it was kept in the mornings and evenings at that time, he had some of the tablets hidden in roast beef (he would only eat M&S roast beef) and sometimes in cat sticks.
He remained well, went outside, played, ate well and generally had a good life quality. He collapsed in the early hours of the morning with a blood clot. It was distressing for all of us, but he died fairly quickly.

 

[fankino04]

Thanks for the replies, I spoke with the vet earlier who said he shouldn't have any spells of irregular breathing so to increase the diuretics, add aspirin and monitor, if any episodes then we will change the heart medicine but he has warned that if changing meds doesn't work quickly then it's not going to work and that if we can't get him back to having a full life then we will talk about making a difficult decision so just fingers crossed for now x

 

[missmatch]

Yes. She's 18 now and still going strong!! We feed her on hills k/d prescription food as this is also recommended for cats with heart disease as well as kidney disease.
Might be worth seeing if your vet would be happy with you feeding that? Just try not to buy it from them. Our vets charge £29 a small bag. Pets at home charge app £16 for the exact same bag.