Tachycardia Heart Issue Anyone ?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kate & Toby

Kate & Toby

Member Since 2019
Hey Folks,
Toby had an episode of fainting or the like on saturday, I took him to the vet and they fitted a Holter for 24 hours, the results are that he is having periods of Tachycardia, he has some existing underlying heart disease, but not heart failure, the cardiologist is unsure whether to prescribe meds for the tachycardia as it will accelerate his heart disease. He has been very sleepy all week but his heart rate has been in the normal ranges when I've been monitoring him. He is on day 6 of his new insulin and so I'm still hopeful of getting his BG down, will this help with the tachycardia? I feel like I'm watching my boy slip away and I'm helpless to do anything.

Any experience of heart issues would be great as this is a new one on me. Thank you in advance xx
 
Oh Kate, I'm sorry, I know this doesn't help, but I just wanted to say I feel your pain and that I'm sorry you and Toby have been going through so much lately. Huge hugs for you and the beautiful Toby.
 
Kate & Toby said:
Hey Folks,
Toby had an episode of fainting or the like on saturday, I took him to the vet and they fitted a Holter for 24 hours, the results are that he is having periods of Tachycardia, he has some existing underlying heart disease, but not heart failure, the cardiologist is unsure whether to prescribe meds for the tachycardia as it will accelerate his heart disease. He has been very sleepy all week but his heart rate has been in the normal ranges when I've been monitoring him. He is on day 6 of his new insulin and so I'm still hopeful of getting his BG down, will this help with the tachycardia? I feel like I'm watching my boy slip away and I'm helpless to do anything.

Any experience of heart issues would be great as this is a new one on me. Thank you in advance xx
Click to expand...
OK I'm so sorry, this beautiful can't catch a break. I hope someone answers you about this and is familiar with this
 
Kate & Toby said:
Hey Folks,
Toby had an episode of fainting or the like on saturday, I took him to the vet and they fitted a Holter for 24 hours, the results are that he is having periods of Tachycardia, he has some existing underlying heart disease, but not heart failure, the cardiologist is unsure whether to prescribe meds for the tachycardia as it will accelerate his heart disease. He has been very sleepy all week but his heart rate has been in the normal ranges when I've been monitoring him. He is on day 6 of his new insulin and so I'm still hopeful of getting his BG down, will this help with the tachycardia? I feel like I'm watching my boy slip away and I'm helpless to do anything.

Any experience of heart issues would be great as this is a new one on me. Thank you in advance xx
Click to expand...
Kate try to change your title to read ? Tachycardia Heart Issue Anyone
 
Kate & Toby said:
Hey Folks,
Toby had an episode of fainting or the like on saturday, I took him to the vet and they fitted a Holter for 24 hours, the results are that he is having periods of Tachycardia, he has some existing underlying heart disease, but not heart failure, the cardiologist is unsure whether to prescribe meds for the tachycardia as it will accelerate his heart disease. He has been very sleepy all week but his heart rate has been in the normal ranges when I've been monitoring him. He is on day 6 of his new insulin and so I'm still hopeful of getting his BG down, will this help with the tachycardia? I feel like I'm watching my boy slip away and I'm helpless to do anything.

Any experience of heart issues would be great as this is a new one on me. Thank you in advance xx
Click to expand...

I have had 3 cats with HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) but never experienced a fainting episode with them. I'm not sure what heart disease Toby has, but my sugar cat, Disco NoFurNo has had episodes (maybe 4 in the past 2 years that I know about) of what is called a vasovagal syncope and it's been after defecation and straining and then vomiting after he exits the litter box. Here is a link to an explanation of that and it might be something to ask your vet about. It also can help to take a video with your phone. I know it's hard to do when you are frantic, and I didn't do it the first time he did it but have since then and the vet found it helpful.

http://www.leadervet.com/specialist-articles-1/syncope
 
I have had two cats with HCM, only with Neko did I learn more about it. Neither had fainting. Neko had bradycardia with AV block, not tachycardia. Her numbers were never very high, except just before I had to take her to ER.

How is Toby’s resting respiratory rate? I monitored Neko’s RR daily, it was a really good signal when things were going off the rails.

Yeah for that blue today!
 
TERI THORSTEINSON said:
I have had 3 cats with HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) but never experienced a fainting episode with them. I'm not sure what heart disease Toby has, but my sugar cat, Disco NoFurNo has had episodes (maybe 4 in the past 2 years that I know about) of what is called a vasovagal syncope and it's been after defecation and straining and then vomiting after he exits the litter box. Here is a link to an explanation of that and it might be something to ask your vet about. It also can help to take a video with your phone. I know it's hard to do when you are frantic, and I didn't do it the first time he did it but have since then and the vet found it helpful.

http://www.leadervet.com/specialist-articles-1/syncope
Click to expand...

Thank you Terri, yes his underlying condition is HCM, its never shown any clinical signs though up until last weekend. Toby also vomited after the little episode, I will look at the syncope and see if it relates. Thank you for your reply.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I have had two cats with HCM, only with Neko did I learn more about it. Neither had fainting. Neko had bradycardia with AV block, not tachycardia. Her numbers were never very high, except just before I had to take her to ER.

How is Toby’s resting respiratory rate? I monitored Neko’s RR daily, it was a really good signal when things were going off the rails.

Yeah for that blue today!
Click to expand...

I was so delighted with the blue Wendy! Sadly it didn't last and we are back to black and red again, soon time for a dose increase I think.

I do monitor his resting heart rate and it is 28-32 consistently, I am yet to count during an episode, the good news is he only had one episode while he had the holter on, so hopefully they are not too frequent, but he hit 400bpm when on the holter, so no wonder he felt so poorly. Thank you again for your support x
 
No advice I'm afraid Kate but just wanted to say hang in there and do be kind to yourself with all that's going on. So many of us here know from experience how exhausting it is looking after a poorly kitty so please make sure you get enough rest.
Really hope things get better soon.
 
This is more a cautionary tale than medical advice.
Many years ago we adopted two siblings straight out of a vet's office who were not spayed/neutered as promised. We ended up with a family of six all diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, I cannot remember which specific variant. Like anyone else here we did our research and spending limits never entered our minds but in the end nothing changed. We knew what they had but could do nothing about it, love and money didn't change anything. The good news was the condition only took one of them away from us. Two were easily managed diabetics and all of them taught us the value of stress reduction which is not always as easy as it sounds.
You asked about experience with heart issues. In our specific case we learned to let go of the repeated and very stressful testing some vets urged because once we knew what was wrong we stopped letting specialists treat them as medical oddities. The point of all this is that Toby has made it this far and you obviously care for him, you are far from helpless. I hope some of that makes sense.

Tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachycardia-induced_cardiomyopathy
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
This is more a cautionary tale than medical advice.
Many years ago we adopted two siblings straight out of a vet's office who were not spayed/neutered as promised. We ended up with a family of six all diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, I cannot remember which specific variant. Like anyone else here we did our research and spending limits never entered our minds but in the end nothing changed. We knew what they had but could do nothing about it, love and money didn't change anything. The good news was the condition only took one of them away from us. Two were easily managed diabetics and all of them taught us the value of stress reduction which is not always as easy as it sounds.
You asked about experience with heart issues. In our specific case we learned to let go of the repeated and very stressful testing some vets urged because once we knew what was wrong we stopped letting specialists treat them as medical oddities. The point of all this is that Toby has made it this far and you obviously care for him, you are far from helpless. I hope some of that makes sense.

Tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachycardia-induced_cardiomyopathy
Click to expand...

Thank you Dickson. You do have such a wonderful way with words and what you have said is where I am in my heart. He is happy, enjoying some good quality if life surrounded by his adoring family, I know what he has and that it will take him from us at some point, but I do think he has had enough of vets and their procedures, I think it's time for Toby to balm in our love and enjoy in his retirement and who knows how long that will last, but every day with him is enjoyed and cherished. Thank you as always xxx
 
Kate & Toby said:
Thank you Dickson. You do have such a wonderful way with words and what you have said is where I am in my heart. He is happy, enjoying some good quality if life surrounded by his adoring family, I know what he has and that it will take him from us at some point, but I do think he has had enough of vets and their procedures, I think it's time for Toby to balm in our love and enjoy in his retirement and who knows how long that will last, but every day with him is enjoyed and cherished. Thank you as always xxx
Click to expand...
Very nicely put, Kate, you have such a good attitude and that goes a long way.
I always love Dickson's posts too, he makes everything seem ok somehow..
 
Diana&Tom said:
No advice I'm afraid Kate but just wanted to say hang in there and do be kind to yourself with all that's going on. So many of us here know from experience how exhausting it is looking after a poorly kitty so please make sure you get enough rest.
Really hope things get better soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks Diana, always appreciate your support. He is good today, his old self. And we have a yellow pre shot! Eek! Xxx
 
You're very welcome. I'm never sure how advice like that will go over.
Noah was the last of the family I spoke of. We decided years ago to just let him be and he did quite well, getting his ears tickled with transdermal BUPE was the worst part of his day.
 
Kate & Toby said:
I'm nervous shooting this low to be honest Diana, I've posted in the ISG but no replies :-(
Click to expand...
Very understandable to be nervous about unfamiliar low numbers, Kate. Yellow isn't Toby's favourite colour, is it? Two things - you could start a new short thread here in Health asking for eyes on your other post, and linking that; and you could also flag up that you need help on the Facebook group if you're a member? Dosing advice as such isn't given there but you can point people over here - there are often more people reading FB posts than the message board.
 
Oh Kate I'm so sorry to hear poor Toby has had more added to his plate :( But I've seen the lovely blue cycle from last night so hopefully the BG will go on the right track from now on on the new insulin. Hang in there, both of you! :bighug:
 
Georgiana & Perlutz said:
Oh Kate I'm so sorry to hear poor Toby has had more added to his plate :( But I've seen the lovely blue cycle from last night so hopefully the BG will go on the right track from now on on the new insulin. Hang in there, both of you! :bighug:
Click to expand...
Hey Georgiana, Lovely to hear from you, was only thinking about you and HRH the other day and wondering how you were doing. Yes poor Toby, but he is on Levemir now and it is really suiting him amazing blue cycle! He hasn't had any more little heart episodes and he is looking and feeling really well. I am enjoying every day with him. xxx
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top