Possible heart problems with the newest addition to my family
by Brandy
(Edmonton, Alberta)
Buster as an infant. (we rescued him and his pregnant mother from the alley)
It wasn't just February that I was having a problem with my eldest cat Cookie and you all were very helpful. This time my poor Buster is the one with the problem.
I've been noticing more and more that my baby gets winded very easy. I couldn't play with him with the laser pointer for more than 1 minute before he was panting heavy like we were playing hard for 15 minutes.
When I called the Vet she told me to bring him in right away to check his heart and lungs. I will also mention when he was young he had a slight heart murmur. Every 15 beats there would be a woosh sound but she did tell us that when he got his neuter that was gone and listening now it was still gone.
She ruled out any lung difficulties but said the behavior must mean a heart condition or problem. We have sent away for blood tests to check for a few things and to check if the heart is producing stress proteins.
Any idea what we might be bracing ourselves for? My partner and I agreed that we will not be doing anything drastic that if the solution isn't simple we will just be doing our best to give him the longest life we can. Buster is going to be 7 months old next week.
Brandy
Hi Brandy... nice to hear from you again but the circumstances are not so good.
Your vet has done the work so I would be loath to add a comment.
On the basis that this is a heart condition, the most common cause of heart disease is HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).
I have a page or two on this subject as Bengal cats are prone to it.
Treatment for HCM is drug treatment and restricting the cat's activity levels. The drugs relax the heart and make it work more efficiently. They prolong the cat's life.
You vet will prescribe drugs if suitable.
Another form of cat heart disease is dilated cardiomyopathy. This can be caused by a lack of taurine in the cat's diet. Taurine is an essential amino acid. Rice in cat food can affect taurine metabolism it is thought.
Good luck and please give us an update if you can find the time.
