My cat has been diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy with secondary pleural effusion.

[sinkingfeeling]

He was put on pimobendan (Vetmedin) and furosemide (Lasix). Diagnosed via Ultrasound and blood work. Given an antibiotic shot.

While I can accept this as Gabby is around 16 or 17 years old (feral cat that has stayed with me 11 years), I am shocked as to how fast this came on. Everything appeared normal until this past weekend. Then Gabs decided to sleep in the laundry room floor instead of on the bed with me and his 'brother'. On Monday and Tuesday, he would locate me and just meow at me for 30 minutes or so. I didn't know what he wanted. On Wednesday, he left most of his breakfast in his bowl and I was gone most of the day. I couldn't locate him when I got home and finally discovered him asleep in his litter box. He ate some dinner and then returned to the litter box!

So, I hit the internet to find causes of such behavior. Most said he was sick and the top reason was an UTI or blockage. Made a vet appointment for yesterday morning, where all tests were run.

Got him home and he went right to the litter box after water and a few bites of food. I set up a 'hospital' room for him in the laundry and just left him in the litter box although I placed a cat bed next to it. I got the Vetmedin pill down him and put the tiny 1/4 of a Lasix pill in his food. He ate sometime during the night. Got pills down him this morning, but all he's done is sleep, in the litter box.

I don't think he will make it. Most sites list 6 to 18 months survival after diagnosis and medicines. What else can I do? Why would this happen so quickly?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[montanacowboy]

1. We had a dog with this

We lost her a year ago. She would actually go into spasms or fits and fall to the ground. We gave her Vetmedin and Furosimide and 3 other meds which were very pricy. I found the Vetmedin hard to get and the pills were so large I used a pestal and mortor to grind up everything in one powdery soup and put it in her food. She did well for about a year and then declined very rapidly. It was so sad and there really isn't anything else except a magnetic device implanted into her heart i.e. a pacemaker. We would have had to take her to WSU Vet School where the cost was way less than in a clinic for veterinarian specialists, $5,000 vs $8-9,000. If she were a younger dog we might have considered taking her to the Vet School but she was 10 going on 11. We miss her so much, she was such a delight.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Thank you. I'm sorry for your loss.

[Grasswire2]

2. I can give you first-hand experience.

My dear orange tabby boy Keiko was feeling sick, I realized. Hiding under the bed, not eating.

Then he appeared to be struggling with shortness of breath.

Off to the emergency vet, where he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. They wanted to keep him and put him in an oxygen chamber. The bill was already up to more than a thousand dollars, and I could not see keeping him there when the prognosis was not good. They basically stabilized him and sent him home with me to die.

Next day we went to his regular vet and she did labs and so on but there was nothing really much to do for him. He was put on Lasix, the diuretic. (Furosemide)

BUT.

Being a person with some personal cardiac limitations, I knew a bit about naturopathic components for heart health. I was taking CoQ10, a critical element that is deficient in most adults as they age. It is necessary treatment for heart failure.

I started immediately sharing my daily Co!Q10 with him. It's a liquid in a small capsule. I would prick a capsule and expel about half of it into a spoon for him twice a day. That would be about 100 mg total. (I take a total of 400 mg/day as an adult hooman.)

I also fed him omega 3 fish oil -- another essential for heart health.

By God, he got better. No more shortness of breath. Full of life.

And he lived another 18 months in good health.

So I encourage you to think about some naturopathic heart health measures. It's called metabolic cardiology, and the pioneer in the practice in humans is Dr. Stephen Sinatra. Massive success for many patients. My own heart health changed dramatically for better following the recommendations.

I buy MRM brand of CoQ10 -- available on amazon at 100 capsules of 100 mg for about $17. Twelve years for me.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Thank you for the info.

[MuseRider]

5. My cat and I were both diagnosed

with that within a few weeks of each other.

He has been hanging on for a long time now, 6 months maybe? His weight is gone because of the energy he uses to breathe but most days he seems happy, wants attention and trots through the house even though I do not know how he does it.

His main problem now with the furosemide is that he has trouble pooping. I give him a tiny amount of Miralax every other day and that seems to help. He is at his worst when he needs to poop.

I see there are some suggestions that might help and I am going to try them. The vets around here shake their heads and tell me he needs to be put down. If he ever acts miserable I will but he does not really seem so bad although it is not fun when he has the bad days. I swear he has 100 lives because he always comes back to wanting attention and trotting after me in the house looking like he would run if he only could but happy. Who knows?

Back to you, sorry I was almost excited to be able to compare the cases because it is horrible when bad and so frightening. I gave him the 1/4 pills for a while then he started biting so I hid them in those stuffed cat treats (an elaborate production that actually worked for about 3 months). Now I give him canned cat food like he never got before and get the Friskies I think brand that has extra gravy because he will not eat the meat now so I crush his pill in the gravy and he is good with it.

It happened all at once here too. I just let him do what he wants. My biggest problem is he jumps up on me in the night time and claws at my face to get up and keep him company I guess, he will not eat so I do not know what else it is. Maybe he gets scared at night now. Whatever. He will get what he needs but it is about every 3 or 4 days I think he is dying and then he is back to normal after a day of me crying over him and being all weird. Use your best judgement. It is all you can do. I would certainly plot out his good/bad days and keep track. It might help you make a decision.

Oh...one other thing we have noticed. We have an area in the basement that has those big cardboard moving boxes that are broken down and leaning against the wall. It is cool and dark down there. I found him one morning panting with his tongue hanging out and he was drooling. I panicked and called the vet and made the dreaded appointment. Then he disappeared. On an off chance I checked the area with the boxes as they would hide there when little new babies and I guess felt comfort there. He was there and we cancelled the appointment thinking, this is his space and he uses it when he needs it and it worked. I checked him often, left food and water as close as I could get it to him and he came out in 3 days (I know) a new cat for a while anyway. Let him sleep in the litter box, an odd choice but it must feel cool to him? Good luck, this is not easy. While I am not glad to see others dealing with this it is nice to know we are not alone out here.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Thank you and hugs to you both.

[Grasswire2]

7. Came back to add that there is literature regarding CoQ10 for veterinary use.

My cat's doctor was quite interested to know that I was treating Keiko with the supplement most recommended for congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy in humans. It sure is worth a try. Keiko was literally at death's door, but then he lived a good eighteen months. Here's a really good article. [link:https://totalhealthmagazine.com/Pet-Health/COENZYME-Q10-CoQ10-for-Pet-Heart-Health.html|

I see elsewhere that capsules with veterinary doses are available, but in my experience it's easier to get a cat to lick something off a spoon than to get a capsule in and swallowed. I used a bit of yogurt on the spoon with some CoQ10 expelled from a capsule.