My cat went to the vet

[ruby59]

Just came back from the vet with my 10 year old cat.

Always had a perfect exam until today.

He lost a pound and a half and she discovered a heart murmur.

She suspects over active thyroid. So she took blood work.

As to the heart murmur she may schedule him with a cardiologist for an echo? Cardio Myopathy.

Looked it up and a heart murmur seems to be caused by the overactive thyroid.

She is also checking kidney function.

Anyone here been through anything similar?

 

[siamese3]

My cat has never had a thyroid problem, but my older cats were/have been tested regularly and my vet, whom I adore, has always told me that in general, thyroid problems are controlled well by medication. Kidney function is getting more normal, especially with older cats. Do you feed your cat dry food? I did have a cat with kidney issues, at least the beginning signs at a somewhat early age, and although once kidney disease starts, it isn't usually reversible, in his case, his values returned to normal and I think it was due to changing over to a primarily high quality wet food diet. Dust for your kitty.

 

[monarch64]

Oh, no. I'm sorry to hear this, Ruby. I only have experience with a cat who had FIV, never anything heart-related. I hope your kitty can be treated successfully and is your companion for many more years.

 

[tyty333]

I hope if he does have thyroid issues that you can control them with medication. Try not to panic
until you get the results back.

 

[ruby59]

Thank you everyone. I will be very anxious until she calls me back tomorrow.

 

[redwood66]

I hope your kitty will be ok.

 

[PintoBean]

My neighbor had an elderly cat with a thyroid issue and they were able to apply the medicine within the ear to absorb and it helped her to put back a little weight.

I've also noticed in general that elderly cats tend to lose weight. It probably helps with movement as they become arthritic. But it's better to treat the thyroid then speculate as I have.

I would suggest telling your vet that you want the least amount of medication possible because this is a senior cat and you don't want to tax her system. My neighbor and my parents both go/went to a doctor that is quick to medicate, which is why I always suggest saying this to any vet. I say this to even my
Vet who is more conservative with dispensing medicine. It gives me peace of mind knowing that I said it lol.

I will be sending healing dust to you and your furbaby.

 

[PintoBean]

Oh just to clear things up I'm talking about different neighbors lolol! I know all the ones with pets really well Bc I invite myself over to play with them

 

[Calliecake]

Ruby, I can hear how scared you are in your post. Please try not to stress too much until you hear from the vet. It's so easy to imagine the worst when so many times once they figure out what is wrong it can be easily treated. Hopefully this will be easy to correct and your furbaby will be back to his normal self quickly, Sending lots of dust to you and your furbaby. Hugs

 

[TooPatient]

Yes, ours had thyroid and heart murmor. (Please, please keep in mind my girl was a special case -- she had always been sick since a kitten, had a collapsed lung, lung infection, sinus infection, kidney failure, heart murmor, super high heart rate, lump (suspected cancerous) on her jaw, and too much more to remember them all)

The heart murmur was discussed but we never treated. Our choice was to skip the additional testing (even if she lived) because there was no treatment they would give her and it may clear up as other issues treated. (So why have stress of testing if no treatment?)

The thyroid was easy. They have standard medication you can give as pills. Our cat hated pills and we wanted to keep stress down. They can compound it into a cream to just wipe in an ear. Super easy and even my girl had no problem with this method. We got something like a three month supply for $100 (the compounding pharmacy had a minimum order).

The thyroid also affects kidneys and other stuff too. You will likely find everything else is just secondary and goes away with the thyroid meds.

 

[Platinum-blonde]

I don't have any experience with thyroid, or heart murmurs in cats, but I do want to send some good vibes your way. It's never easy hearing news like that from a vet. 10 years isn't particularly old for a kitty, which makes something like that harder to digest. Make sure that you trust your vet, and their method of dealing with the issue. You can always seek a second opinion... good luck.

 

[ruby59]

The thyroid also affects kidneys and other stuff too. You will likely find everything else is just secondary and goes away with the thyroid meds. Too Patient.
_________________________________________________

Thank you everyone. I am hoping that if it is thyroid, and all the pieces seem to fit, that medication will control the thyroid and help with the secondary conditions.

Another option we were given is iodine, where it destroys the affected parts of the thyroid only. I went on a website and they claim this actually cures it. But downside the pet is radioactive for a month so you have to take proper precautions.

I am so relieved to hear the medication comes in a cream, as the vet told us that with the pills most cats will not take it.

Also he will be put on a special diet as well. Right now he is on SO Royal Canin for male cats with crystals in the urine, so I hope the change does not cause that to flare up.

The vet is supposed to call tomorrow, so fingers crossed, if it is thyroid I can get him on the proper meds by tomorrow or Sunday.

 

[Nitedula]

One of our cats has had a heart murmur caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy since she was young (she's a feral, which means she's probably inbred). She takes two pills a day, which slow her heartrate so the hypertrophy doesn't get worse, and seems quite happy. I'm sure your cat will be fine. If you need to teach him how to take pills, there are some good YouTube tutorials - you may get scratched or bitten the first couple of times, but our cat actually runs over to get her pills now, because she's learnt that she gets groomed and fed straight afterwards!

 

[SMC]

Ruby, hope your cat is able to get the right treatment and he feels better soon!

 

[siamese3]

Ruby, if some reason you do have to give your kitty pills, what I found was a game changer for me ( my cat took several medications twice a day) was discovering the use of gel caps. I had to cut pills, and some of the pills were bitter, and putting them in a gel cap made holding the pills and administering them easier for me. I also would give the pills after my cat had a little wet food so saliva was there and that helped. Hopefully you can get the medication, if needed, in a cream. My SIL gave medication to her cat that way it was quite easy. Hoping your news with be good today.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Ruby, hoping you get good news from the vet very soon! Big hugs outgoing to you and your kitty!

 

[Calliecake]

Ruby, Another option if your cat ever needs to have meds is to get them in liquid form. We have a pharmacy in our area (not one of the big chain pharmacies) that does this and they gave me a syringe that shots the medicine unbelieveably fast. It literally takes a second to give your pet the medicine. My dog refuses to take pills or crushed up meds. This was a game changer for us and the only way to get the proper dosage of her meds into her system. I hope you have good news soon to report and your baby is on his way to getting better.

 

[ruby59]

Update:

Mittens' senior blood work all came back normal. It is not thyroid.

So the doctor has no clue why he lost a pound and a half or why he has the heart murmur.

She said on a scale of 1 to 6 his is a 1. If he were a dog, she would not be concerned.

But it is much rarer in cats.

Mittens is scheduled for a echo on the 12th of May and possibly a full body Xray if warranted.

Has anyone had a cat with cardio myopathy? If so, please share.

And thank you all for your good wishes. I really appreciate it.

 

[tyty333]

We had a cat that started to lose weight...it was kidney function but I'm sure your vet has already
tested/looked into that and eliminated that issue. Hang in there. Hopefully they can find out what
the issue is and solve it with the right medication.

 

[kgizo]

Hi Ruby59, We had two cats with heart murmurs / disease. I forget what the technical name was, but it was a hardening of the heart muscle. I remember we were given 3 meds, one a diuretic (disease was further along when diagnosed), a beta blocker and I forget the third. One cat was too far along when diagnosed (murmur level 6) and the meds didn't help as the damage was done. For the other cat (murmur level 3/4), the meds slowed down the progression of the disease and gave her two really, really good years that she likely wouldn't have had without the meds. So, there is hope for your Mittens. Is she seeing an internist or cardiologist? We did ultrasounds every 3 mo so we could keep on top of the progression of the disease. For the type of disease ours had there was basically one pharmaceutical protocol which was very successful, but if it didn't work you were out of luck. It was helpful for me to know this up front. You may want to ask your vet if salt content is something you need to start monitoring for Mittens. I'm pretty sure we were advised to cut back on treats because of the salt.

 

[ruby59]

Hi Ruby59, We had two cats with heart murmurs / disease. I forget what the technical name was, but it was a hardening of the heart muscle. I remember we were given 3 meds, one a diuretic (disease was further along when diagnosed), a beta blocker and I forget the third. One cat was too far along when diagnosed (murmur level 6) and the meds didn't help as the damage was done. For the other cat (murmur level 3/4), the meds slowed down the progression of the disease and gave her two really, really good years that she likely wouldn't have had without the meds. So, there is hope for your Mittens. Is she seeing an internist or cardiologist? We did ultrasounds every 3 mo so we could keep on top of the progression of the disease. For the type of disease ours had there was basically one pharmaceutical protocol which was very successful, but if it didn't work you were out of luck. It was helpful for me to know this up front. You may want to ask your vet if salt content is something you need to start monitoring for Mittens. I'm pretty sure we were advised to cut back on treats because of the salt.

Mittens was diagnosed with a stage 1. He will be seeing a cardiologist who will do an echo to give us more information. It is also the weight loss that is concerning.

Beta blocker and diuretic make sense as treatment.

Mittens is a male cat with crystals in the urine so he is on SO Royal Canin. Treats are limited to a little bit of tuna, and maybe some turkey tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your response.

 

[ecf8503]

Hi Ruby -

I'm a vet and I worked in exclusively feline practices for years.

I'm glad your vet is being thorough! Do you happen to know if they took a urine sample at the time they drew blood?

An echo with a cardiologist is the proper next step. There's no way to say whether or not there is a problem until the echo is done. That said, I've owned a lot of cats over the years, and they've had problems from kidney disease to hyperthyroidism to cancer, and unfortunately heart disease as well. My boy who had heart disease wasn't diagnosed until late in the disease (he was completely asymptomatic), and he took 4 meds a day every day for the remainder of his life.

There isn't much to say until the echo is done, but when you have results, please post them here - I'm very curious! Good luck w the echo (I know it's hard to wait - there weren't any appts earlier?) - >^..^<

 

[ruby59]

Thank you so much ecf.

On a scale of 1 to 6 the vet said it was a 1. It is his weight loss that also had her puzzled because his blood work was normal. Thyroid and kidney function both normal. He had the complete senior panel.

Unfortunately in my State there is only 1 small pet cardiologist and they triage them based on the scale above.

We have an emergency hospital Ocean State Veterinarian Medicine and I am calling first thing Monday morning to see if I can get something earlier. I understand they need to take the more severe cases first but I am trying to be proactive so that he can be put on meds (they said a beta blocker and diuretic) to keep it from progressing.

 

[Calliecake]

Sending dust to both you and Mittens. Hoping for good news and a great treatment plan.

 

[ecf8503]

...Thyroid and kidney function both normal. He had the complete senior panel.

We have an emergency hospital Ocean State Veterinarian Medicine and I am calling first thing Monday morning to see if I can get something earlier. I understand they need to take the more severe cases first but I am trying to be proactive so that he can be put on meds (they said a beta blocker and diuretic) to keep it from progressing.

I looked up Ocean State - they do a lot more than just emergency. The cardiologist there looks very qualified - hopefully you can get an appt there soon!

Kudos to your local vet - they've done all the right things. Keep your chin up, from one Mittens owner to another!

 

[ruby59]

ECF,

He had a rabies shot late Friday. Now he is lethargic, he will not eat, and he has been having diarrhea.

And with him having lost weight already. I am so worried.

 

[PintoBean]

ECF,

He had a rabies shot late Friday. Now he is lethargic, he will not eat, and he has been having diarrhea.

And with him having lost weight already. I am so worried.

I hope this is just a side effect of the rabies shot. Have you tried warming the food in the microwave to make it more aromatic and attractive to him?

 

[ecf8503]

ECF,

He had a rabies shot late Friday. Now he is lethargic, he will not eat, and he has been having diarrhea.

And with him having lost weight already. I am so worried.

That's fairly common. It has stimulated his immune system to think it is getting sick (but it's not), so he will have side effects similar to what would happen if ill (mild fever, inappetence, lethargy, etc). It will pass in a day or so, but if it doesn't then obviously call your vet, and they can administer meds to help.

 

[kgizo]

For the weight loss and lethargy ask your vet if a vit B shot would help (ecf, please weigh in if you have an opinion). I had a cat with GI issues and noticed an improvement after he got a shot. It's a vitamin so a short term improvement but was worth it.

 

[ruby59]

I did not sleep at all last night. Mittens would not eat and looked so lethargic.

So first thing this morning I took him to Ocean State Veterinary Clinic emergency room.

Vet examined him and said he had some muscle loss. They are doing an ultrasound. They are also going to be doing the echo as well.

Very nervous that it could be cancer or heart disease.