Enlarged heart diagnosis for my furry baby

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B

Blue's mum

Member Since 2020
Hi all, I'm new here. I need help to understand how I can help my baby Blue. Blue is a 10 year old cat. He was diagnosed with diabetes 2 years ago. He has been on insulin since then. He is a big boy and was about 10 kilos. For his last vet check, I insisted on getting an x-ray and ultrasound for his chest and abdomen. Turns out, he has an enlarged heart. This is following we was have noticed him breathing a bit faster. Prior to the test vet was telling us given he is a big boy breathing a bit faster us not unusual. Anyway, now the vet gave us two options - doing an echocardiogram and put him on medicine. Take him to another city and get his pituitary gland checked. I'm not confident to travel without knowing how well his heart really is functioning. Please let me know if you have any tips or experience. I want to make sure I do the best for my georgous boy. Cheers all.
 
What kind of heart problem? Saying an enlarged heart, doesn't tell us much I'm afraid.

Do you have a copy of the ultrasound report? There should be specifics on there saying what the issue with his heart was.
 
I had an echo-cardiogram done for my Wink. Tons of detail in the report.
Know some of the heart meds your vet may put your kitty Blue on.
Will be thinking of you and your kitty Blue in the meantime.
Let us know how the testing goes on Monday.
Keeping all paws crossed here for positive news.
 
Not to alarm you but my kitty Dusty had to be put to sleep due to congestive heart failure. His heart was very enlarged, erratic heartbeat, fluid in his lungs and breathing very rapidly. Usually cats don't show any trouble until it's too late but in your case you may have found the issue early. There are meds and diets that will help slow down heart enlargement and if there's fluid build up there are diuretics to removed excess fluid. There's no way to reverse the enlargement and really there are only ways to manage it and extend his life. Make sure the x-rays of his chest didn't show any fluid in his lungs. For now limit his sodium intake if you can, too much salt in his food or treats will make fluid retention worse. Paws crossed for a good treatment plan going forward!
 
My girl had an enlarged heart for about two and a half years before it got to the point where we needed to add medication. I think getting an echocardiogram by a certified cardiologist is the way to go. Even if you don't need meds now, it'll give you a baseline. My girl had some Maine Coon heritage, and that breed is prone to HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) or enlarged heart and as well, she had acromegaly, a benign pituitary tumour that puts out excess grown hormone, which can enlarge the hearts and also caused her diabetes.

What country do you live in? If your kitty is large and the vet suspects acromegaly (one in four diabetic cats has it), there are easier and cheaper ways to determine that than getting a CT scan or MRI - which is the only way to look at the pituitary. You can get a blood test done to test for IGF-1 (insulin growth factor 1). There are no feline tests for growth hormone, but growth hormone causes more IGF-1 to be produced, so they test for that. There are only a couple places in the world that test for IGF-1 for cats, Michigan State University in the US, and Royal Veterinary Clinic in the UK. Your vet draws blood and sends it in for analysis. No travel required.

In the mean time, it's a good idea to keep track of Blue's resting respiratory rate. When he's asleep, count the number of in and out breaths per minutes. I used a timer on my phone. You don't really want it above 30.
 
Thanks Dusty Bones. I haven't been sleeping well worrying about something like that. I don't know how long I've got.

Dusty Bones said:
Not to alarm you but my kitty Dusty had to be put to sleep due to congestive heart failure. His heart was very enlarged, erratic heartbeat, fluid in his lungs and breathing very rapidly. Usually cats don't show any trouble until it's too late but in your case you may have found the issue early. There are meds and diets that will help slow down heart enlargement and if there's fluid build up there are diuretics to removed excess fluid. There's no way to reverse the enlargement and really there are only ways to manage it and extend his life. Make sure the x-rays of his chest didn't show any fluid in his lungs. For now limit his sodium intake if you can, too much salt in his food or treats will make fluid retention worse. Paws crossed for a good treatment plan going forward!
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Thanks Wendy. We are in Australia. Blue has always been a big boy. When his vet told me about enlarged heart, that's the first time they mentioned about acromegaly and just like you mentioned linking it to his diabetes.

I was really frustrated learning this that enlarged heart is far more common in diabetic cats. I think the vet could have mentioned to do an x-ray then and every year etc. His recent blood test came out alright and diabetes under control.

We don't have an MRI machine in our city but Sydney does. It is 3.5 hours each way and I'm not confident Blue is up for that long drive. He hates car rides and gets super anxious. Took him a whole day to calm down after last vet visit. We have been given some anti-anxiety medication before his vet visits tomorrow.

So, waiting for Monday's test first and come up with plan to take him Sydney.

Another thing vet mentioned is that UK has a blood test machine that can test for growth hormone but takes 6 weeks. I guess that's what you mentioned. I'm very keen on the blood test. I'm going to discuss this on Monday. Adds to my list of frustrations that we don't have a machine to test that in the entire country.


Wendy&Neko said:
My girl had an enlarged heart for about two and a half years before it got to the point where we needed to add medication. I think getting an echocardiogram by a certified cardiologist is the way to go. Even if you don't need meds now, it'll give you a baseline. My girl had some Maine Coon heritage, and that breed is prone to HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) or enlarged heart and as well, she had acromegaly, a benign pituitary tumour that puts out excess grown hormone, which can enlarge the hearts and also caused her diabetes.

What country do you live in? If your kitty is large and the vet suspects acromegaly (one in four diabetic cats has it), there are easier and cheaper ways to determine that than getting a CT scan or MRI - which is the only way to look at the pituitary. You can get a blood test done to test for IGF-1 (insulin growth factor 1). There are no feline tests for growth hormone, but growth hormone causes more IGF-1 to be produced, so they test for that. There are only a couple places in the world that test for IGF-1 for cats, Michigan State University in the US, and Royal Veterinary Clinic in the UK. Your vet draws blood and sends it in for analysis. No travel required.

In the mean time, it's a good idea to keep track of Blue's resting respiratory rate. When he's asleep, count the number of in and out breaths per minutes. I used a timer on my phone. You don't really want it above 30.
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Blue's mum said:
UK has a blood test machine that can test for growth hormone but takes 6 weeks
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Seems like a long time. The IGF-1 test takes a few days to run, so most of the time is travel for the blood. Should be able to expedite it and get it there faster. I am on the west coast of Canada and it took not quite a week to get to Michigan. There is no assay for feline growth hormone, and growth hormone amount varies throughout the day, so IGF-1 is a better measure. MRI also involves anethesia, and if a cat has a heart condition, that is not to be undertaken lightly. Blood test is the better option for diagnosis first. There is a vet surgeon, I think in the Small Animal Specialist Hospital in Sydney, who has learned how to do surgery to treat this condition.
 
Really appreciate your help Wendy. These are the things I need to know. I will insist on a faster turn around if it means paying for some sort of express mail. I'll be honest with you, I was not in the right mind frame to think about all these during our last vet visit. I'm still processing all these information especially gratefully with the help with other mums like yourself ❤️

Yes, that's the hospital in Sydney we have been told about.

Thankfully, Blue seems okay for now and carrying on normally except breathing a bit faster at times.
 
Hi and welcome. I’m sorry your kitty Blue has an enlarged heart.
I live in Sydney.
I am attaching a link about information for diabetic caregivers in Australia. If you scroll down towards the bottom you will come across ‘testing for ACRO cats in Australia’ It will give you all the information you need to know. I have spoken to the Small Animal Hospital in Ryde and they were very helpful. I have listed the vet who does the operations on ACRO cats. They will also organise the blood tests to be sent to the UK. All info in the link attached.
Your vet can ring them for information about the acro blood test.
Please let us know how you get on.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/information-for-aussie-feline-diabetic-caregivers.217781/
 
Thanks heaps Bron. I'm sorry for your loss.
I'll have a chat to my vet tomorrow to check if they are okay sending off Blue's blood.

Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi and welcome. I’m sorry your kitty Blue has an enlarged heart.
I live in Sydney.
I am attaching a link about information for diabetic caregivers in Australia. If you scroll down towards the bottom you will come across ‘testing for ACRO cats in Australia’ It will give you all the information you need to know. I have spoken to the Small Animal Hospital in Ryde and they were very helpful. I have listed the vet who does the operations on ACRO cats. They will also organise the blood tests to be sent to the UK. All info in the link attached.
Your vet can ring them for information about the acro blood test.
Please let us know how you get on.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/information-for-aussie-feline-diabetic-caregivers.217781/
Click to expand...
 
Blue's mum said:
Thanks heaps Bron. I'm sorry for your loss.
I'll have a chat to my vet tomorrow to check if they are okay sending off Blue's blood.
Click to expand...
Your vet will need to contact the SAS Hospital for the address in the Uk and what it needs to be collected in and transported etc.
I’m sure they would be very helpful. I spoke to them several months ago when I was collecting the information and they were lovely.
Best of luck with it all.
Are you north, south or west of Sydney?
 
Here is a summary of our day - Blue had another ultra sound and his eco-cardiogram. We haven't got any good news. We have been told that left upperside of his heart is enlarged and has a blood clot in it. His heart is also not beating in a rythmic fashion. I was told they don't know why/when this happened, when that clot formed etc. Apperantly, his heart muscles are not like the ones they have seen for kittys with acromegaly. So, no blood test for that at this point. Blue also has a cough which caused his rapid/heavy breathing. Blue shows no sign of being any different than his normal despite having his heart issues. He is running and beating me to kitchen, chilling, going out to the deck for freah air in the afternoon and watching telly. He has been given tablets for his heart and cough. His breathing should go back to normal with the cough meds. We go back in a week time for his normal blood test and see if the meds are causing any issues.

I have prayers and meds to rely on.
 
Oh I am sorry you didn’t get better news.
Hopefully the medications he has been put on will help him.
Can they do anything about the clot in his heart? Is he going on medication for that?.
Sending very best wishes to him.
 
I'm so sorry for the bad news. Dusty was the same way all the way to the last day when I took him to the ER Vet, seemed the same playful self but something seemed off though. Some things to look for is lower appetite, lower energy level, the cough that gets worse, problems with his hind legs and of course rapid breathing. When those things get worse you might have to make a serious decision. Again I don't want to alarm you but I want to be honest with you, something some vets won't do. When they get clots in their heart, it's because the heart isn't pumping like it should and the blood swirls inside the heart creating clots. Those can travel down the main arteries and usually end up in the hind area where it splits going to their hind legs. The clots usually get stuck there and cause a painful paralysis of their rear legs. The clots can also cause a sudden heart attack which as you can imagine is very painful. With Dusty he was a seemingly healthy 15 year old cat who was in remission, on 1 Jan 2020 he had some kind of attack where he couldn't breath, his mouth was open and gasping for breath, I picked him up and massaged him not knowing what to do and thankfully he settled down and was normal the rest of the evening. I thought he had a reaction to some salmon I gave him. That night I noticed him breathing rapidly and then he was ok. It seemed to come and go but then he didn't want to eat and just seemed off, less energy and walking very slowly. It was a Sunday on 5 Jan my regular vet was closed so I took him to an ER Vet to check him out. X-rays showed a huge heart pushing up against his windpipe, his lungs full of fluid and irregular hearbeat. He was on the edge of crashing so we decided to let him free. I now know that when he had that attack on New Years, he almost died right in front of me a horrible death. I was given extra time with him and a chance to peacefully let him go. I hope this doesn't upset you, I just want you to know what happened with Dusty. I think you have more time than I did and hopefully the meds will slow things down and give you many more years together.
 
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Blue's mum said:
Blue shows no sign of being any different than his normal despite having his heart issues. He is running and beating me to kitchen, chilling, going out to the deck for freah air in the afternoon and watching telly.
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He doesn't know that anything is different. You love Blue while you still have him. You treasure every day and make some memories. You give Blue his medications and check back in with the vet when needed.

Wink lived 7 weeks after his diagnosis with severe end stage restrictive cardiomyopathy with evidence of heart failure both left and right side. Irregularly irregular arrhythmia with gallop. His outlook was not good either.
He was getting 4 different medications. Vetmedin (strengthens the heart), Clopidogrel (anti-thrombotic), Enalapril (strengthens the kidneys and heart), Furosemide (diuretic). Renal low sodium diet. I had to hand feed him for about a month, as he did not want to eat on his own.

The clopidogrel is very bitter, and can cause foaming in the mouth. Hide in a pill pocket and get it down as quickly as possible. Good idea to give a little squirt of water in the cheek pouch, to help the pills go down. I know that I'm horrible at "dry swallowing" any kind of pill. Small syringe will help with this.

I treasured every day of those 6 weeks I still had him in my arms. When his breathing became labored, when he could no longer lie down because he could not breathe lying down, I knew it was time to say goodbye.

Keeping you and Blue in our prayers. I'll have Jeanne add you and Blue to the Novena for our sick kitties if that is ok with you.
 
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Thank you for sharing. And, I'm very sorry for your loss. I have no doubt about your intentions. I know you are only sharing your love for Dusty with my Blue. We are blessed for that.

Dusty Bones said:
I'm so sorry for the bad news. Dusty was the same way all the way to the last day when I took him to the ER Vet, seemed the same playful self but something seemed off though. Some things to look for is lower appetite, lower energy level, the cough that gets worse, problems with his hind legs and of course rapid breathing. When those things get worse you might have to make a serious decision. Again I don't want to alarm you but I want to be honest with you, something some vets won't do. When they get clots in their heart, it's because the heart isn't pumping like it should and the blood swirls inside the heart creating clots. Those can travel down the main arteries and usually end up in the hind area where it splits going to their hind legs. The clots usually get stuck there and cause a painful paralysis of their rear legs. The clots can also cause a sudden heart attack which as you can imagine is very painful. With Dusty he was a seemingly healthy 15 year old cat who was in remission, on 1 Jan 2020 he had some kind of attack where he couldn't breath, his mouth was open and gasping for breath, I picked him up and massaged him not knowing what to do and thankfully he settled down and was normal the rest of the evening. I thought he had a reaction to some salmon I gave him. That night I noticed him breathing rapidly and then he was ok. It seemed to come and go but then he didn't want to eat and just seemed off, less energy and walking very slowly. It was a Sunday on 5 Jan my regular vet was closed so I took him to an ER Vet to check him out. X-rays showed a huge heart pushing up against his windpipe, his lungs full of fluid and irregular hearbeat. He was on the edge of crashing so we decided to let him free. I now know that when he had that attack on New Years, he almost died right in front of me a horrible death. I was given extra time with him and a chance to peacefully let him go. I hope this doesn't upset you, I just want you to know what happened with Dusty. I think you have more time than I did and hopefully the meds will slow things down and give you many more years together.
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Many thanks for sharing Deb. I'm Nat. Thank you for adding to the Novena.

I secretly wiped tears at work today - the whole day. I'm not usually very emotional. My lifetime is not enough to spend with Blue. The sadness I feel is beyond I can ever describe. But I'm sure many people here will understand. I wonder what I could have done for him to avoid all these.


Deb & Wink said:
@Blue's mum We've never even learned your name. Would you share your first name with us please?
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I'm just seeing your thread now and I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your diagnosis. I'm sure we all do understand. But please don't question anything you've done... Blue is beyond lucky to have someone who loves him so much. Biggest of hugs to you and your sweet Blue.
 
I am so sorry to hear the diagnosis. :bighug: Some of the heart medicines can make a world of difference. I hope they really help Blue. When my Neko's heart went beyond "simple" cardiomyopathy, she had heart failure. Meds got rid of the fluid and made her stronger for quite a while. She was more complicated because her kidneys were bad and treating one made the other worse. But we still had 7 months, and I think it was the kidneys that were the tipping point.

The meds can be bitter, vetmedin too. I got a bunch of small gel caps and stuffed as many in one as I could and pilled in one shot. That disguised the taste. I have heard of others getting them compounded into a combo liquid.

Some people don't know there are heart issues until it's too late to do anything about it. Often called the silent killer. I lost another cat to a clot three days before he was supposed to have an echo. :( You know what your are dealing with and I hope the meds help Blue.
 
Blue's mum said:
...I wonder what I could have done for him to avoid all these.
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Please don't blame yourself, I tried to do the same thing going over things over and over but like Wendy said it really is a silent killer. It just suddenly shows up out of nowhere. Dusty recently had a dental and everything was fine on his pre-dental check up and suddenly shortly after he wasn't. Just enjoy the time you have together and hopefully his meds will slow things down for you both of you.
 
Blue's mum said:
I secretly wiped tears at work today - the whole day. I'm not usually very emotional. My lifetime is not enough to spend with Blue. The sadness I feel is beyond I can ever describe. But I'm sure many people here will understand. I wonder what I could have done for him to avoid all these.
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:bighug::bighug::bighug: Nat :bighug::bighug::bighug:

We get it.

Sick or well, the time with our kitties is never enough. But I would not trade my time with Wink or my other cats for anything. They were a treasure and although I knew when I brought them into my home, they would leave me first, I would still do it all over again.

All of it.

They were and still are family. I simply hold them differently these days.

The self doubt, the questioning what we could have done differently, our need and desire to make things 'all better' are very common feelings. But, please don't let yourself get wrapped up in guilt. The past can not be changed. We live our lives from this point forward, from where we are now and do the best we can.

We know you will do your best for Blue.
 
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