Jan 30 Felix AMPS=127, +2=94, +4=100, PMPS=359, +4.5=207; cardiology recheck

Susan&Felix(GA)

Susan&Felix(GA)

Member Since 2017
prior thread Dec. 17

Felix strolled along the shoreline today. :cool::D I expect he'll be bouncing by PMPS, which is coming up shortly.

He had another good visit with his cardiologist (prior cardio recheck in Oct.), and this is from the cardiology report earlier this week:
-Restrictive cardiomyopathy - bilateral - significant improvement seen on today's echocardiogram, and Felix's systolic function is now considered normal.
-Historical congestive heart failure - no evidence of cardiac decompensation today.
-Historical small thrombus in left auricle - resolved.
-Rare premature contractions - none observed today.
-Mitral and tricuspid regurgitation - significant improvement seen on today's echocardiogram.
-There are no pericardial, pleural, or peritoneal effusions.

She was very surprised that his left atrium is mildly dilated and right atrium is mildly enlarged; these were severe in October! She credits this to the pimobendan (Vetmedin), which she said is helpful about 80% of the time, but Felix's dramatic improvement was unexpected. They usually advise against a grain-free diet (for dilated cardiomyopathy) and we were going to discuss diet options at the end of the appointment, but after the echo she said, "Don't change a thing!"

His kidney panel was described as adequate for his situation (posted on SS labs tab). They said it's optional if I want to start supplementing potassium and to let them know if I'd like them to prescribe it. I presumably will start that after reading up on it a little more.:bookworm:

Felix was such a good kitty for his appointment. Like last time, there was much praise for orange tabbies.:cat:
 
Love to see Felix doing well :bighug:. I think I'd look at a potassium supplement, 3.4 is getting a bit low. I'm a bit rusty on the topic, but I am linking this info from Tanya's CRF http://felinecrf.org/potassium.htm. I used it often for reference with my 2 CRF kitties in the past.

Nice to see you Susan :)

Yo Felix, wanna meet soon at the lagoon? Iz trying a new insulin and mama sez I need to hang with my buddies more often.
Your pal, Mav

ETA if you and your vet do decide potassium supplements are required, you should continue to monitor via blood tests, since too much potassium can actually cause health issues too...
 
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What an awesome report! Love to see all those improvements. WTG Felix. :woot:

I thought the grain free thing was a dog heart issue, specifically related to diets rich in legumes and short in taurine, which is added to cat foods. Here's a copy of an article about the research.
 
That's a pretty great cardiac follow up if the systolic function has improved. That's less work for his ventricles and it's great they didn't see any ectopic beats or VPCs.
It's always reassuring when a vet says ' keep doing what you are doing' ! Well done :)
Good luck with the potassium supplement
 
Christie & Maverick said:
you should continue to monitor via blood tests, since too much potassium can actually cause health issues too
Click to expand...
Yes, and I need to find out how much monitoring he would need, since we're also trying to minimize his stress. He's good at the vet in that he's so docile, but he's slow to bounce back psychologically from each visit.

Wendy&Neko said:
I thought the grain free thing was a dog heart issue, specifically related to diets rich in legumes and short in taurine, which is added to cat foods.
Click to expand...
They tested his taurine when he was hospitalized in May due to concern about his "boutique" diet (I thought Wellness was mainstream, although I admit it has a few somewhat goofy ingredients). His taurine level was good. The criticalist then pressed me to get him off grain-free anyway, but I wasn't open to it because I didn't feel like I was getting good advice: I was encouraged to change him to Royal Canin Savor Selective dry, which the little kibblehead was eating so well for them in the hospital. I know heart trumps diabetes, but yikes! At the visit this past week, the tech brought it up and said they really do see adding some grains helps even if they don't exactly know why and that she'd have the cardiologist talk to me about it. I was ready to hear her out, but when I asked for food recommendations, that was when she said, "No! Don't change a thing!"
 
Susan&Felix said:
the tech brought it up and said they really do see adding some grains helps even if they don't exactly know why and that she'd have the cardiologist talk to me about it
Click to expand...
Helps cats? Or dogs? I had no problem finding a food that worked for Neko's diabetes and heart - just watch the sodium. I am curious to hear what your cardiologist says about that, instead of just the tech.
 
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