RobbiesMom
Active Member
OK it's been about 3 months time for a post... Just re-read my July post and all the info and it was hard reading knowing where we've been since than. Robbies hyper-thyroid tests continued to not indicate that he had hyper thyroid thru the middle of August. We discussed treating him anyway but considering he was already getting the insulin for the Diabetes (which is doing pretty well) and the high blood pressure meds we decided to wait and see where things went for 3-4 week.s Well, that turned into the beginning of Oct. (instead of mid August) and I was really starting to worry. SOMETHING was wrong and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Our new friend (the house call Vet) had heard a "galloping heart" but our local vet had not heard it on 3 different visits. However, finally after much concern over costs and more we were connected with a vet tech who does ultra sound tests - the same test would be over $600 in our Vets office but this woman, who it turns out I worked with 20 years ago before she was trained and working with Vets, agreed to come to our house for $185 - I went for it in a second. She came and the basic hope was to scan all his organs - do a whole test and if there was time and he was cooperating to do his heart as well - an echo I think it is (forgive me I'm home sick as a dog and on codine cough meds so a tad loopy). We got thru most of the tests and he was a good boy but it was over an hour of him on his back in this cradle thing being held by two assistants and myself and he was NOT happy. She did what she could on his heart but didn't get the full test done. She also took blood. Blood results showed his levels indicating hyper thyroid had gone up and so our friend the vet contacted a friend of hers who turns out is one of the top specialists in this area for cats (our regular vet was TOTALLY impressed that our friend got this guy to look at Robbies test results) - so reccomendation was PUT HIM ON THE HYPER THYROID MEDS RIGHT AWAY. So we did. A couple of days later we got the results on the echo - they were mixed - everything looks fine - except something about his heart not right so we took him the next day for a chest x-ray (and spent that $500 we'd been trying to save). Our regular vet called with the not so good news - Robbie has an enlarged heart both vertically and horizontally - he HAS to have a full Echo.
Now I've had a cat of my own and was a part time caretaker and good friend of another cat who both died of HCM (Hydrotropic Cardio Myopathy) so I've been thru these tests before and what it can mean. However, we were hopeful that this was simply due to the stress the hyperthyroid had put on his heart (don't I wish we'd just put him on the meds back in July?? YOU BET and BOTH Vets were kicking themselves). Our vet even said to me "I just don't see this being HCM - we've been on alert for that since you got him" (this due to the fact he was from the same breeder although not same bloodlines as the cat I had lost already to HCM at 4 years old). So we scheduled the heart ECHO and I crossed my fingers - although something in my head was saying "brace yourself". And YES - to cut this short --- Robbie has HCM - thickening of the left heart wall and ventricle. It is mild to moderate but .... it is what it is and that is NOT good. So now he is on the hyperthyroid pills, blood pressure pills and heart meds. His diabetes is really doing SO much better his most recent full blood panel numbers showed basically and I quote "he is a totally controlled diabetic cat with all numbers in the almost normal range" I have the numbers but can't get them now - all I know is he home tests about 200 or so NEVER higher than 300 whenever we test him and until recently he was eating constantly so catching him at a time when he didn't have food in him was almost impossible. He never seems to go below 100 however but to be honest considering all we have been looking at the diabetes has dropped in my concern level (although we keep testing at least 2x a day and he gets insulin when he is over 210 - .50).
So now we are seeing some major changes - once he was on ALL those meds he started doing things he had not done in MONTHS - jumping up on the bed to sleep with me at night, getitng onto the sofa to sleep next to me. He screams and cries a lot less and he is eating a lot less. He seem generally better in some ways - and yet - he's got that skinny look starting (not sure how much weight he's lost he goes to the vet Friday), he coughs more often, and seems to sleep more and very deep sleep.
I am heartsick. I know what this disease is like and even with him at mild to moderate he can get worse very fast and I realize that my 12 year old beloved boy will never be my 18 or 20 year old beloved boy but that was a lot to ask considering. I also know he could have a couple to a few more good years and be happy and healthy enough - there are more meds we can move on to and he's on a VERY low does of the heart meds. I am hoping his high blood pressure improves and maybe he won't need that pill anymore - just feels like so much meds to be pumping into him.
I wanted to share this info because you've all been so great - and who knows when I might need help so wanted to put this out there - whomever is kind and patient enough to read it all might be able to help me if something goes bad again with his glucose levels. Right now he is curled up at my feet on the sofa, looking as cute as ever and I cannot imagine a time when I won't have him here. But we all know that time always comes.
ONE thing I found out that I want to share - it only showed up in a couple of online things I read about HCM and I had NEVER heard it before even after going thru this already - cats that cry all the time, for almost NO reason MAY have HCM - some new studies have found that ONE symptom at times is a constant pattern of crying at times by the effected cat. I could NEVER figure out what Robbie wanted - I'd feed him, hold him, walk with him and yet he'd still cry (well not when I was holding him) walk around the house at night just crying - or sit in the hallway after we'd had dinner and YEOWL at the top of his lungs. So - that is something to put in the back of your mind - neither of my vets had heard of it so I forwarded them the articles and now they have first hand knowledge. I got the HCM diagnosis from our friend the house call vet - I called our vet and left a message telling him Robbie had HCM and having the test results sent to him. When he called me back he was almost crying and said "I simply cannot believe this is what he has - I am so sorry I truly feel like I failed both of you" He did not - we had LOONG discussions - I didn't have the money to do the tests - he knew that - he's always offered to let us pay things off but I couldn't keep putting us in Vet Debt more and more. All things considered I'm most upset we were so freaking cautious about putting him on the Hyperthyroid meds. Should have just done it. Thanks for reading friends. I wish you and all your babies good health and I'll be back here to update and see what's going on as time allows.
Ellen and Robbie
Now I've had a cat of my own and was a part time caretaker and good friend of another cat who both died of HCM (Hydrotropic Cardio Myopathy) so I've been thru these tests before and what it can mean. However, we were hopeful that this was simply due to the stress the hyperthyroid had put on his heart (don't I wish we'd just put him on the meds back in July?? YOU BET and BOTH Vets were kicking themselves). Our vet even said to me "I just don't see this being HCM - we've been on alert for that since you got him" (this due to the fact he was from the same breeder although not same bloodlines as the cat I had lost already to HCM at 4 years old). So we scheduled the heart ECHO and I crossed my fingers - although something in my head was saying "brace yourself". And YES - to cut this short --- Robbie has HCM - thickening of the left heart wall and ventricle. It is mild to moderate but .... it is what it is and that is NOT good. So now he is on the hyperthyroid pills, blood pressure pills and heart meds. His diabetes is really doing SO much better his most recent full blood panel numbers showed basically and I quote "he is a totally controlled diabetic cat with all numbers in the almost normal range" I have the numbers but can't get them now - all I know is he home tests about 200 or so NEVER higher than 300 whenever we test him and until recently he was eating constantly so catching him at a time when he didn't have food in him was almost impossible. He never seems to go below 100 however but to be honest considering all we have been looking at the diabetes has dropped in my concern level (although we keep testing at least 2x a day and he gets insulin when he is over 210 - .50).
So now we are seeing some major changes - once he was on ALL those meds he started doing things he had not done in MONTHS - jumping up on the bed to sleep with me at night, getitng onto the sofa to sleep next to me. He screams and cries a lot less and he is eating a lot less. He seem generally better in some ways - and yet - he's got that skinny look starting (not sure how much weight he's lost he goes to the vet Friday), he coughs more often, and seems to sleep more and very deep sleep.
I am heartsick. I know what this disease is like and even with him at mild to moderate he can get worse very fast and I realize that my 12 year old beloved boy will never be my 18 or 20 year old beloved boy but that was a lot to ask considering. I also know he could have a couple to a few more good years and be happy and healthy enough - there are more meds we can move on to and he's on a VERY low does of the heart meds. I am hoping his high blood pressure improves and maybe he won't need that pill anymore - just feels like so much meds to be pumping into him.
I wanted to share this info because you've all been so great - and who knows when I might need help so wanted to put this out there - whomever is kind and patient enough to read it all might be able to help me if something goes bad again with his glucose levels. Right now he is curled up at my feet on the sofa, looking as cute as ever and I cannot imagine a time when I won't have him here. But we all know that time always comes.
ONE thing I found out that I want to share - it only showed up in a couple of online things I read about HCM and I had NEVER heard it before even after going thru this already - cats that cry all the time, for almost NO reason MAY have HCM - some new studies have found that ONE symptom at times is a constant pattern of crying at times by the effected cat. I could NEVER figure out what Robbie wanted - I'd feed him, hold him, walk with him and yet he'd still cry (well not when I was holding him) walk around the house at night just crying - or sit in the hallway after we'd had dinner and YEOWL at the top of his lungs. So - that is something to put in the back of your mind - neither of my vets had heard of it so I forwarded them the articles and now they have first hand knowledge. I got the HCM diagnosis from our friend the house call vet - I called our vet and left a message telling him Robbie had HCM and having the test results sent to him. When he called me back he was almost crying and said "I simply cannot believe this is what he has - I am so sorry I truly feel like I failed both of you" He did not - we had LOONG discussions - I didn't have the money to do the tests - he knew that - he's always offered to let us pay things off but I couldn't keep putting us in Vet Debt more and more. All things considered I'm most upset we were so freaking cautious about putting him on the Hyperthyroid meds. Should have just done it. Thanks for reading friends. I wish you and all your babies good health and I'll be back here to update and see what's going on as time allows.
Ellen and Robbie
