Oscar in Aus has heart disease

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Joan & Oscar

Joan & Oscar

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http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=33483

Well folks not good news about Oscar unfortunately he has advanced heart disease and it is heart failure that makes his breathing act up. It has nothing to do with the diabetes but just happened to coincide. He will be on meds (4 types -heart med Fortekor, frusemide, asprin & Iscover) for ever, which it appears may not be long, so we will take each day as it comes. It was a lot of money to find out he is dying but at least I know what to expect and can make him comfortable. The specialist vet thinks about 6 months, part of his heart is enlarged . I really shouldn’t get so attached to my pets (but they are good friends)!

I guess we just have to enjoy whatever time we have.

I will still treat the diabetes with diet and the specialist vet was really impressed with the testing, diet etc - all thanks to you guys. He is losing condition fast even though he eats a lot, the vet suggested fish oil? Any other thoughts? I know he has to keep the weight off but it continues to drop.

Anyway he is happy and comfortable although still a little angry about his 700kilometre round trip to the vet! Also he caught a mouse last Saturday night so that's still a good sign.

Cheers Joan
 
Oh Joan,

I am so sorry to hear this. We did have the same issue with our Oliver, but a year after we got the diabetes regulated. Oliver was 16 so we felt it was not unusual for him to have "an elderly man's disease".

I think your plan to enjoy him as long as you have him is excellent. A number of people here have had kitties with heart disease and they had much more success with treating it than we did. I hope they will be along with ideas for you.

Sue
 
Joan, I'm so sorry to hear this. At least you know now and can treat him appropriately and enjoy the precious days you have left, which I hope are far more than the vet estimated.
 
I'm terribly sorry to read this. I do know that some cats can live a long time with heart issues but obviously there is no guarantee :( Part of the price of having the love of a pet is the fact that they must go, and it is a price those of us here are willing to pay!

I hope that you guys aren't located near the flooding? I was in Oz over 17 years ago and am so sad to read of the devastation

Hugs

Jen
 
I am so sorry you got that diagnosis.. Merlyn had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and severely enlarged left atrium on diagnosis and was on 3 of the meds Oscar is on plus diltiazem. he also had moderate kidney disease and we were able to balance a little sub q fluids to balance the lasix(furosemide).

Um.I just looked up Iscover, and it seems to be Plavix.. I am not sure it is a good idea to take both Plavix and Aspirin as both are blood thinners.. I am not a vet, you might want to PM Jess and Earl to ask about that. She works with a veterinary cardiologist.

Merlyn did live 2.5 years post diagnosis, so dont count Oscar out yet! Crossing all paws you can have more time with him. Sometimes merlyn didnt want to eat and I would puree his Wellness canned with a hand blender. Once I syringed one syringe full he would usually start licking it on his own.

Crossing all paws for Oscar.
 
We were given 2 days after dx with Waldo (that handsome little fellow to the right) He has now lived a year + past that dx. He has RCM and asthma. Waldos' good days far outshine his bad but we know everyday with him is an extra gift and we treat it as such. Yesterday he ran up a tree in the backyard while on his zip line. Scared the bejezes out of me!

I hope you and Oscar have many good days ahead. Kitties have a way of confounding us.

God bless you and God bless LIil Oscar.

jeanne
 
I hope you will have more time with Oscar. We now have a rescue kitten which we found September 27th 2010, about 2 months old then, and whom we took to the vet for a first check up at October 18th 2010, and when he listened to her heart he said she had a severe heart murmur, and it could be due to different kind of heart diseases, and next when she was a little older we should do a ultrasound of her heart. We did the ultrasound in December 22nd, 2010, when she was 5 months old and it shows that she has a hole in her little heart, called VSD. So far she can live with it and they say though she needs ultrasound check ups as she goes along. It is our first heart kitty and I might end up taking her myself because of this, I love her and she is too sweet to not give a chance.


Hugs to Oscar
 
Many thanks for all those well wishes and encouragement. Coz Oscar is only 10 you have all given me hope of a bit more time. But as was mentioned we do love them knowing they won't live as long as us and we still would do it all over again!
Osacar was put on the 2 blood thinners as the Adelaide specialist discussed him with the Melbourne cardiologist and he has had good success using both meds so they decided to try both.
I know diabetes is not now our major problem but I always feel better and get ideas after hearing from you all. So much knowledge and experience amongst you.
However although Oscar's diagnosis was not good, he seems to still enjoy playing and in the cooler weather he is still pretty active.
Thanks for asking but we are not near the floods, although they are really terrible it is amazing to think that over the west they are having bushfire problems.
Fortunately we are in the middle and over the last decade drought has really been are downfall but ironically this year is a good one for us. Our national anthem says 'a land of drought and flooding rains' -pretty spot on!! I believe tomorrow the rains are going to peak so Queensland could be in an even worse state in the next 48 hours - scary stuff.
Thanks again to all my kitty friends for your support and friendship.
Cheers Joan
 
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