manxcat419
Member Since 2015
My poor little Regan is so very sick. She was diagnosed 21 months ago with VPCs that the cardiologist at the time thought were non life-threatening. She had done really well in the meantime, with her last check up in September finding that things were much the same, so we weren't too concerned although her intermittent heart arrhythmia remained.
Last week, we noticed that she seemed to be putting a little more effort into purring. We called our vet who said that it might be a pain response as her gabapentin dose (for her gingivostomatitis) has never been increased since we started her on it. We increased her dose for 3 days, but didn't see an improvement. So we took her to the vet yesterday. Her chest was full of fluid - they couldn't even see her heart on X-Ray. So it was off to the ER for us. They drained 170 ml of fluid and found that her heart is enlarged.
Today, she saw the cardiologist. The news isn't good. She has a rare condition in cats - ARVC. What is it with this cat and the rarest conditions out there? The cardiologist has only ever seen 3 cases. None of the vets around here have seen Bowen's disease in a cat before she developed it. Long story short, her atria are non-functional and her right ventricle is severely damaged. She shouldn't even have been breathing at all by the time we got her to the vet, yet her symptoms were so mild that the vet thought it was most likely going to be the scar tissue in her lungs from pneumonia as a kitten that has caused mild breathing issues on and off until we saw the X-Ray. They're only giving her a few weeks with supportive meds. She isn't a candidate for a pacemaker as she wouldn't survive the anesthesia, and it would only extend her life by a few more days anyway. Yet she's happy. She eats, drinks, purrs and want cuddles. She wouldn't even stop purring at the vet yesterday - they had to ask me to take my hands off her so they could hear her heart over the purring. And I can't stand it. I already lost Rosa much too young, and now I'm losing her twin as well - she's not even 15 yet. I feel as though I've got nothing left that matters any more. And the only place I know where miracles sometimes happen is right here on the FDMB. So please, if any of you have any vines to spare, send them Regan's way. She needs all the help she can get. She's so not ready to go yet - she really, truly isn't. She's happy and loving life and it's just so unfair.
Last week, we noticed that she seemed to be putting a little more effort into purring. We called our vet who said that it might be a pain response as her gabapentin dose (for her gingivostomatitis) has never been increased since we started her on it. We increased her dose for 3 days, but didn't see an improvement. So we took her to the vet yesterday. Her chest was full of fluid - they couldn't even see her heart on X-Ray. So it was off to the ER for us. They drained 170 ml of fluid and found that her heart is enlarged.
Today, she saw the cardiologist. The news isn't good. She has a rare condition in cats - ARVC. What is it with this cat and the rarest conditions out there? The cardiologist has only ever seen 3 cases. None of the vets around here have seen Bowen's disease in a cat before she developed it. Long story short, her atria are non-functional and her right ventricle is severely damaged. She shouldn't even have been breathing at all by the time we got her to the vet, yet her symptoms were so mild that the vet thought it was most likely going to be the scar tissue in her lungs from pneumonia as a kitten that has caused mild breathing issues on and off until we saw the X-Ray. They're only giving her a few weeks with supportive meds. She isn't a candidate for a pacemaker as she wouldn't survive the anesthesia, and it would only extend her life by a few more days anyway. Yet she's happy. She eats, drinks, purrs and want cuddles. She wouldn't even stop purring at the vet yesterday - they had to ask me to take my hands off her so they could hear her heart over the purring. And I can't stand it. I already lost Rosa much too young, and now I'm losing her twin as well - she's not even 15 yet. I feel as though I've got nothing left that matters any more. And the only place I know where miracles sometimes happen is right here on the FDMB. So please, if any of you have any vines to spare, send them Regan's way. She needs all the help she can get. She's so not ready to go yet - she really, truly isn't. She's happy and loving life and it's just so unfair.
