Bad News for my new kitty baby.

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Tonya and Tiki

Tonya and Tiki

Member Since 2011
So my new kitty (still haven't decided 100% on his name but have narrowed it down to either Jinx or Harley, or at least that's the case for right now. I've never had such a hard time naming a pet before) seems to have a heart issue. I just came home from the vet after two days of barfing (not related to his heart issue). They took xrays and blood work and cant for sure determine if he has an obstruction or not but we can definitely see a large mass of gas that has him tender in the tummy. He threw up Thursday night and didn't eat at all yesterday. I gave him some tuna this morning that he threw back up almost immediately. They gave him some liquids and meds and said if he throws up again tonight to bring him to the ER doc overnight where they will probably keep him overnight and have him seen by an internal medicine doc tomorrow. The oddest thing is he doesn't act sick at all. He is still bonkers, being his young kitty self bouncing off the walls. Oh and his blood work came back basically normal on all fronts. I don't think he has gotten into anything to have caused this, there's nothing suspiciously missing in my house and it's always been pretty pet friendly as far as toxins and things that are bad etc.

So back to the heart issue - since I brought him home he has been playful and runs around chasing the laser pointer like a mad man and then pants like a dog. This had me concerned so I asked the vet about it and it turns out he definitely has an enlarged heart but no murmur they can hear. They suggest taking him to a specialist for an echo cardiogram. They limited the liquids they gave him today based on his heart issue. He loves to play and the panting never stops him from going back for more.

I can't believe this. Within months of bringing Bodhi home he was having mast cell tumor surgery and now this. They estimate the kitty is 10 months or so old. In the back of my mind I think God puts these needy creatures in my path because he knows I will take care of them but these vet bills are freaking killing me!!! Today's bill was $500 and we still don't know what the problem is.

Does anyone have anything encouraging to tell me about this heart thing? In less than a month I am so in crazy love with this little guy. He is such a great little cat. I am so bummed out about this.
 
I don't have any advice except that I would see a board certified cardiologist to see what you are facing. I hope Max had an echo by a radiologist when he was around 2 and last year I saw a cardiologist to make sure his murmur wasn't anything serious. I got lucky with that one. The echo is not invasive and your kitty won't need to be sedated. I hope this is easily treatable.
 
Hi Tonya :coffee: :)

I wish you luck with your kitty. I have had two kitties with "enlarged" hearts. Mannie's was a little on the big side but not overly so ,and after a few cardio evals, it was determined that it was just normal for him, as at the time everything else was fine. He eventually did develop some wall thickening on one of his chambers, but that was due more to old age. Corky also had an enlarged heart, his fit that term. We went through the same eval with him, and his too was determined to be normal for him. We eventually lost him to kidney failure, and HCM that was not related to the size of his heart. Both these guys lived to be 16 or more years old. I will hope it is the same for you. It is my understanding that there can be several things that can cause this, should it be ruled not normal. I would start with an exam with a cardiologist, and see. I had to smile at the running and panting like a dog. One of my cats used to do that. She ran and played so hard that when she finally stopped she would pant, just to catch her breath. Maybe it is just the same for you kitty? Hope so anyways. Hang in there. I so hope the heart thing is just the way he is, with no medical concerns.

I suspect that the vomiting etc is due to the pocket of gas (??), probably not the heart issue. Wish I could say for sure. I hope he will feel better today, won't have to do the ER visit. I so hear you on the costs of the vetty visits.... paws crossed for you. Feel better little one.

Hope this helps. :bighug:
 
Michelle and Mannie (GA) said:
Hi Tonya :coffee: :)

I wish you luck with your kitty. I have had two kitties with "enlarged" hearts. Mannie's was a little on the big side but not overly so ,and after a few cardio evals, it was determined that it was just normal for him, as at the time everything else was fine. He eventually did develop some wall thickening on one of his chambers, but that was due more to old age. Corky also had an enlarged heart, his fit that term. We went through the same eval with him, and his too was determined to be normal for him. We eventually lost him to kidney failure, and HCM that was not related to the size of his heart. Both these guys lived to be 16 or more years old. I will hope it is the same for you. It is my understanding that there can be several things that can cause this, should it be ruled not normal. I would start with an exam with a cardiologist, and see. I had to smile at the running and panting like a dog. One of my cats used to do that. She ran and played so hard that when she finally stopped she would pant, just to catch her breath. Maybe it is just the same for you kitty? Hope so anyways. Hang in there. I so hope the heart thing is just the way he is, with no medical concerns.

I suspect that the vomiting etc is due to the pocket of gas (??), probably not the heart issue. Wish I could say for sure. I hope he will feel better today, won't have to do the ER visit. I so hear you on the costs of the vetty visits.... paws crossed for you. Feel better little one.

Hope this helps. :bighug:
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Well this definitely makes me feel a little better. Thanks for your insight. I've already thought - well no wonder you are so sweet, your heart is bigger than normal. LOL Whatever his heart issue is, it hasn't slowed him down any.

And I agree, this bout of barfing isn't related to his heart. I am just hoping we get through the night without it being a full fledged obstruction as that just translates to more and more vet bills. He's been acting normal since all of this started with the exception of the vomiting. He doesn't seem to be in any pain and he lets me pick him up and snuggles in and purrs when I hold him so I am hoping that's a good sign too. Paws crossed here too!
 
Hi Tonya, we are keeping paws and fingers crossed that the heart thing is his normal and that the gas pocket will disperse. Sometimes people and other animals "outgrow" heart issues.
Sending lots of vines for the little guy,

Hugs and scritches,

Ella & Rusty
 
My very first kitty had an enlarged heart and a grade 4 heart murmur ...both diagnosed before he was 1 year old...He died peacefully in his sleep in his very favorite place in the house (in front of the refrigerator where the hot air blows out) at the age of 24

It's not unusual for kittens (especially) to run to the point of panting either. I know I've seen several episodes of "My Cat from Hell" where one of the things Jackson Galaxy suggests is to play with the cat to the point where they literally can't continue to tire them out

Hopefully your new little dude (whatever you decide to name him) is just fine and will live a long and healthy life and will just be extra-loving!
 
"Enlarged" anything on a premliminary exam could be a false positive with humans and kitters. Before getting alarmed a consult with specialist is a good idea. Paws crossed for Jinx/Harley.
 
Sending vines to your little boy. I hope the heart issue turns out to be okay.
I hope it's an uneventful night and I am sending some eating and holding it down vines for tonight, too.

I too, have had a hard time with naming my kitten. I've been calling my kitten Jackson for two weeks now, and just today, my neighbor thought I said Justin, and I said oh, that's a good name :rolleyes:
 
Oh no poor you and poor kitty.

I have no experience of heart disease but the ongoing vomiting is something I have dealt with. If he is gulping air (heart disease?) then I guess that may cause the build up of air in his tummy and this may make him vomit. Remi has asthma and gulps air more than normal and thus ends up vomiting easily or getting air trapped in his tummy. Did they do an X-ray and rule out asthma? If he is gulping air after playing perhaps you can play with him in another less cardio vascular way?

The other cause of vomiting I have to contend with is pancreatitis. This can be bought on by stress, a change in food, etc and with the recent move to your house this may have bought on a flair. Possibly? Just something that might be worth ruling out as well with a spec fPL blood test.

Good luck at the specialist.
 
There really hasn't been any gulping of air, he pants for just a couple of seconds and that's usually it. What concerned me was he hadn't been playing all that hard or all the long to be panting. The only other time I've ever seen a cat pant was when my AC broke in a heatwave and it was 112 degrees in my house. Tiki hung out on the tile floor in the kitchen panting when that happened. There was no mention of Asthma from the vet today so that doesn't seem to be on their worry list.

So far on the eating front he rejected his normal food and the bland soft food the vet sent us home with. So then I got some baby food and he ate that right up and then started in on his other food too but I only gave him a couple of licks before picking that up so he didn't eat too much. I have the food with me in the office tonight so I could keep an eye on him and what he is eating while I work tonight on the computer. Just found him sitting in the food's normal spot waiting for more. I guess that's a good sign, but I am waiting an hour hoping he keeps what I just gave him down.
 
phlika29 said:
Oh no poor you and poor kitty.

I have no experience of heart disease but the ongoing vomiting is something I have dealt with. If he is gulping air (heart disease?) then I guess that may cause the build up of air in his tummy and this may make him vomit. Remi has asthma and gulps air more than normal and thus ends up vomiting easily or getting air trapped in his tummy. Did they do an X-ray and rule out asthma? If he is gulping air after playing perhaps you can play with him in another less cardio vascular way?

The other cause of vomiting I have to contend with is pancreatitis. This can be bought on by stress, a change in food, etc and with the recent move to your house this may have bought on a flair. Possibly? Just something that might be worth ruling out as well with a spec fPL blood test.

Good luck at the specialist.
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To be honest he doesn't seem stressed out at all about his move to our home. He and the dog also get along great and other than jumping out of the Bodhi's way (cuz he is a big ungraceful moose of a dog) occasionally, he seems to be fond of him mostly. His eating habits up til yesterday had been inhaling his food as soon as I gave it to him and licking his bowl so clean it barely needed to be washed. I've sorta been concerned about that too, but he doesn't seem like he wants more and more food throughout the rest of the day so I chalked it up to being a good eater. Til yesterday and today, poor baby.
 
Dyana said:
Sending vines to your little boy. I hope the heart issue turns out to be okay.
I hope it's an uneventful night and I am sending some eating and holding it down vines for tonight, too.

I too, have had a hard time with naming my kitten. I've been calling my kitten Jackson for two weeks now, and just today, my neighbor thought I said Justin, and I said oh, that's a good name :rolleyes:
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I change my mind every two days. And he hasn't helped as it doesn't seem like he likes any of my ideas and ignores all the names I try to call him. I like Jackson. I have actually toyed around with the name Jax (from Sons of Anarchy) which is a nickname for his real name of Jackson. Have thrown Opie around too from that show....
 
Chris & China said:
My very first kitty had an enlarged heart and a grade 4 heart murmur ...both diagnosed before he was 1 year old...He died peacefully in his sleep in his very favorite place in the house (in front of the refrigerator where the hot air blows out) at the age of 24

It's not unusual for kittens (especially) to run to the point of panting either. I know I've seen several episodes of "My Cat from Hell" where one of the things Jackson Galaxy suggests is to play with the cat to the point where they literally can't continue to tire them out

Hopefully your new little dude (whatever you decide to name him) is just fine and will live a long and healthy life and will just be extra-loving!
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24!!??!!???!!!!! Holy Hannah, that's awesome! Thanks for that knowledge, now I have hope!
 
Hi Tonya. I have no advice on the heart issue, but I have experience with a kitty that has gas. Harvey has that issue and the vet told me to get baby gas drops at a drug store and give him the child's dose (You might want to give little no-name a little less if you try it). I put it in some baby food and he ate it right down and it seemed to help. If the baby is gulping his food down, that could be part of the problem, so you're wise to feed small amounts, spaced out. That's what I have to to with Harvey and it makes a big difference. Sending vines and prayers that his heart problem becomes a non-issue.
 
I have no advice to offer but I just wanted to send tons and tons of healing and comfort vines for your little fella! :bighug::bighug::bighug: I hope whatever is going on is something that can be easily managed- good luck and a good move to see a specialist. (I have a vomiter :nailbiting:as well, I hope you can figure out what is going on :bighug: and get it resolved!)
 
Chris & China said:
My very first kitty had an enlarged heart and a grade 4 heart murmur ...both diagnosed before he was 1 year old...He died peacefully in his sleep in his very favorite place in the house (in front of the refrigerator where the hot air blows out) at the age of 24

It's not unusual for kittens (especially) to run to the point of panting either. I know I've seen several episodes of "My Cat from Hell" where one of the things Jackson Galaxy suggests is to play with the cat to the point where they literally can't continue to tire them out

Hopefully your new little dude (whatever you decide to name him) is just fine and will live a long and healthy life and will just be extra-loving!
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That's exactly what we had to do to Tiki when he was a kitten. He about killed us. He would never settle down at night and played and played and terrorized us all night long. So we would play with him all night up until bed time to tucker him out so we could sleep through the night. So far little no name isn't far behind. He settles in at night but as soon as the sun comes up and the birds start to chirp he is bugging me. And I am NOT a morning person. LOL
 
I don't want to "Jinx" things (ok, so maybe that's a really bad name choice....) but so far we've kept some food down and even had a little poop in the box. At first he wouldn't eat anything so I got him some baby food and gave him one spoonful per hour and so far no barfing. Although now he doesn't want any more, baby food or anything else for that matter. Trying not to fret. My hover mothering is annoying him I am sure and Bodhi seems stressed because I am. Poor babies.... Oh and Bodhi, being his big moose self, knocked Kitty over right into his water dish, so that was some extra liquid in his system. LOL
 
Tricia & Cinco said:
Hi Tonya. I have no advice on the heart issue, but I have experience with a kitty that has gas. Harvey has that issue and the vet told me to get baby gas drops at a drug store and give him the child's dose (You might want to give little no-name a little less if you try it). I put it in some baby food and he ate it right down and it seemed to help. If the baby is gulping his food down, that could be part of the problem, so you're wise to feed small amounts, spaced out. That's what I have to to with Harvey and it makes a big difference. Sending vines and prayers that his heart problem becomes a non-issue.
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All great advice - thanks so much! He doesn't SEEM to be gulping his food, but maybe. Will have to watch more closely (if he ever eats normally again....:)
 
One of my cats would pant after playing hard when she was younger. That was 8 yrs ago and she is still with me. I never had her tested but just kept an eye on her. She seemed to outgrow it. As for the gas you might try gently patting his back like burping him. I wonder if digestive enzymes might also help? They help me when I have gas.
 
Glad to hear the little fellas eaten something. I think Tricia's onto something with the baby gas drops. I should have thought of that myself. I give infacol to my rabbit when she gets gassy.
 
Sending tons of healing vines, and positive appy vibes for your baby. I, too, don't have any advice with regards to an enlarged heart. The only heart issue that I've had with one of my cats, Daisy (GA), was that it was covered in cancer, along with other organs in her tiny body, but she was 12, which is, but isn't old for a kitty.

With regards to barfing, perhaps he was gulping down too much at one time...? If he refuses food again, you could try syringe feeding him small amounts of liquid wet food (making it to where it will get sucked up into syringe without clogging), if nobody else has suggested that yet.

Hang in there. :bighug:
 
Good morning. I just read through this thread, Tonya. Amazing how much experience and help is on this board. Lots of encouraging posts.

All I can do is send vines, bushels and bushels. And then some more.

Marilyn and Polly
 
Mr No Name says thanks everyone for your well wishes. I kept all my food down today and feel so much better.
 

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I'm glad he's feeling better today. He's very sweet! I love a cat who loves his comfort!

Our GA Max had a grade III/VI murmur and the radiologist said he had HCM. After years of giving him supplements, we finally got a cardiologist in Tucson who said he did not have HCM.

Paws crossed everything is just fine.
 
So today is the first day with none of the vet food (bland soft) and now he wont eat his regular FF that he previously wolfed down like crazy. I am guessing its because he got sick on it before? He ate all the other food yesterday and kept it down and today he just dropped a stink bomb so it would seem his system is back to normal. Tiki always ate his FF even if he got barfy for some other reason. Do I starve him until he gives in and eats it or am I SOL, so to speak?
 
Morning and good luck with the fuds... I suspect it is becasue he got sick on it before. Mannie refused to eat the fuds that he always ate once he got sick on them. it's a tough call on what to do. I'd keep trying, but offer something else for now. My back up fuds were Pro-Plan (low carb ones) and Wellness. Wishing you much luck!

How wonderful that Tiki is feeling better! YAY! :)
 
Tonya, you might try reintroducing the FF by mixing a little in with the bland food, and increasing the amount each time if he eats it. Otherwise, I'd try something else for awhile. His memory might fade and you can go back to FF later.

I'm so glad he feels better and did eat! :)
 
He ate the turkey and giblets flavor thankfully! But I bought a box of three flavors so he better just hurry up an get over it. LOL With the sky as my limit I was actually looking for a better food for him now that I am not driven by carb counts. So overwhelmed with all the choices.
 
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