My sick cat

Madness

Madness

Well-Known Member
Staff member
To start I want to say thank you to Tom, Paul and Cory for your generosity.

Just got back from the docs, and Lindley has HCM, Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Which is enlarging of the muscle around the heart. Right now his left side both lower and upper has significant growth. There is no cure, it is just a matter of how quickly it progresses from here. Because there are concerns with clotting he will have to take a blood thinner, and the main concern is that the excess fluid that will develop due to the enlargement, does not start overflowing into or around the lungs, once this starts to happen he is in congestive heart failure. The doctor said that he rarely sees this in young cats, and is usually occurs in older cats. He also said that this is passed down from parents and that there is a high percentage of the offspring that will develop this as well sometime in their life. This is not something that can be detected from an examination, unless a heart murmur develops which is a sure sign of the disease starting. Lindley had a check up back in May when Levi was neutered, and there was no murmur. It doesnt mean that it wasnt already developing it just means that it had not progressed to the point to where it is causing the murmur. My concern is that all cats from the same litter or from which ever parent that is carrying this, lives a much longer life than it looks like Lindley will live :(
 
ShortyKiloGyrl

ShortyKiloGyrl

Well-Known Member
Staff member
My parents dog has had congestive heart failure for about 4-5 years now. He was given 6 weeks to 6 months to live. That was a year and a half ago. My mom's own research of different food and different treatment approach has made the fluid in his lungs go away and he's not at threat of death due to the congestive heart failure. He gets coQ10 and a diet change made a complete difference. Maybe the same can go for a cat. He has a 'lite' food he eats which is lower in sodium and other components which helps keep off the water. Maybe bring it up to the vet? Maybe some early preventative measures can help him live longer. If it can help a 13 year old dog who has been given weeks to live I'm sure it couldn't hurt Lindley. Best of luck to the both of you!
 
Madness

Madness

Well-Known Member
Staff member
He is doing really well. I decided to treat him like I treat myself, NATURALLY. The doctor said that he would just continue to get worse and to give him drugs to prolong it, yet these drugs could destroy his kidneys and liver. :suspect: :suspect: So I decided to do some reading, talked with a couple of holistic physicians, and a friend of mine that owns a alternative medicine/natural vitamin store and have come to the decision to give him a combination of Hawthorn berry, and a few other herbs and CoQ10. Our goal is at his 6 month exam his murmur is gone which would mean that his heart is beating and working correctly, and to hear the doctor say, "wow, thats unusual". Then I can tell him how we did it and why Doctors are quacks. lol OK I wont say that last part. ;)

And thank you all for you help, thoughts, words, comments and concerns. It means a great deal. :heart:
 
MorganEA

MorganEA

Member
That's great to hear! hopefully the natural path will help, some of the drugs that are supposed to help can be really harmful on the liver and kidneys. I was just asking because we just lost our older cat to kidney failure :(
 
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