Congestive Heart Disease/Failure
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:37 pm
Hi everyone,
My 15yr old diabetic cat has just been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Disease/Failure. We went to the vet 3 times last week as she stopped eating altogether and firstly they thought kidney failure, no improvement took her back for stomach x ray to see if there was a mass there, then they spotted fluid in her lungs so we have ended up with CHD!
She has been on medication for a week now (Rilexine 75) and has started eating again (not as much but enough) but last night at midnight she sort of fell to the floor and had strange clicking breathing and in my panic I phoned the vet emergency who offered me a callback by the vet. The sound gradually wore off and after about 5 minutes she stood up and by the time the vet called me back she had returned downstairs to her bed and all seemed well. The vet explained what had happened to her and I asked if she was about to die and he said most CHD cats die in their sleep when the fluid overwhelms them!
The reason I am on here today is because I am terrified and so anxious about it and I don't really know what to expect and which symptoms are life threatening and which ones are part of the course of the disease. I dread going downstairs now in case I find her gone and I never want to witness her struggle last night again (but I guess I will!). I'm sure many on here have had to deal with the thoughts about when to say it is enough for her and to let her go without distress but I am completely in the dark about it all. From a personal point of view, I am anxious about coping with a dying pet since I have never experienced it before. Perhaps there are some links or websites specifically for this disease that someone knows about? I am sure I will feel much better able to cope with all the uncertainty if I can gain some knowledge about it (I did manage to eventually cope with injecting my cat when she was diagnosed with diabetes so perhaps this is a disease I can handle too?).
Many thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.
PS. Just in case anyone remembers the tale of MOJO who I rescued from the petrol station, he now has his forever home in the Welsh countryside just outside my village and he is spoiled rotten by his staff!!
My 15yr old diabetic cat has just been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Disease/Failure. We went to the vet 3 times last week as she stopped eating altogether and firstly they thought kidney failure, no improvement took her back for stomach x ray to see if there was a mass there, then they spotted fluid in her lungs so we have ended up with CHD!
She has been on medication for a week now (Rilexine 75) and has started eating again (not as much but enough) but last night at midnight she sort of fell to the floor and had strange clicking breathing and in my panic I phoned the vet emergency who offered me a callback by the vet. The sound gradually wore off and after about 5 minutes she stood up and by the time the vet called me back she had returned downstairs to her bed and all seemed well. The vet explained what had happened to her and I asked if she was about to die and he said most CHD cats die in their sleep when the fluid overwhelms them!
The reason I am on here today is because I am terrified and so anxious about it and I don't really know what to expect and which symptoms are life threatening and which ones are part of the course of the disease. I dread going downstairs now in case I find her gone and I never want to witness her struggle last night again (but I guess I will!). I'm sure many on here have had to deal with the thoughts about when to say it is enough for her and to let her go without distress but I am completely in the dark about it all. From a personal point of view, I am anxious about coping with a dying pet since I have never experienced it before. Perhaps there are some links or websites specifically for this disease that someone knows about? I am sure I will feel much better able to cope with all the uncertainty if I can gain some knowledge about it (I did manage to eventually cope with injecting my cat when she was diagnosed with diabetes so perhaps this is a disease I can handle too?).
Many thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.
PS. Just in case anyone remembers the tale of MOJO who I rescued from the petrol station, he now has his forever home in the Welsh countryside just outside my village and he is spoiled rotten by his staff!!