khedron

Our cat Mibu's health took a turn for the worse this spring. I've been hesitant to post about it, since it was ongoing, and I'm still hesitant to say anything now, since I don't want to jinx it, but we got some good news and "keep on doing what you're doing" guidance today, so I'll say a little something.

TL,DR: he's on medication for congestive heart failure, but is doing surprisingly well.

Around noon on Sat. April 2nd, I was at my desk working, and that's a good thing because our cat started wheezing. He'd done that a few times over the previous couple days, like he was trying to produce a hairball but nothing was coming up. This was different, though - he was breathing very rapidly and he was avoiding sitting in Jen's lap, which just never happens. My vet had just closed, but we're very fortunate to have MedVet, the emergency 24-hour vet, a couple miles from the house. I called them up and they said with breathing problems, they would get him in immediately.

He spent the weekend in a hyperbaric chamber so they could get some oxygen into him. Diagnosis was fluid buildup around his lungs, which is why he was breathing so hard - normal rate is <= 30/minute, and he was at like 50/minute. This was caused by newly diagnosed congestive heart failure, which had made the upper chambers of his heart swell from a normal 15mm to 22mm. They kept him in the special chamber all weekend, and drained some fluid surgically with a syringe, and put him on both diuretics and drugs to make his heart beat more strongly. We were told to check back in days, not weeks.

BTW, I know when it happened exactly because that was the morning of my daughter's 12th birthday, and she was devastated - sniffles and "I thought this was supposed to be a _good_ day." I can't blame her at all, I think it's one of the reasons I haven't posted about it.

So a week passed and the fluid issues seemed to be improved, and his kidneys were tolerating the diuretics well enough. His breathing was more or less back to normal (and we have an app to help us measure it). He didn't like taking what's basically 4 medications 2x/day, anymore than I like giving them, but we've worked it out. Oh, why so many meds? 2 were new, 2 previously existing for thyroid and a blood clot issue he'd had in Nov. 2020 - this was basically a stroke which sent a blood clot to his hips and paralyzed his hind legs. Recovery from this is rare, but he had managed to pull through and regain normal motion. Our vet was already calling him her "Miracle Kitty" because of this.

A month passed, and he seemed to be doing OK-ish. Kidney values were elevated, probably due to the stress of the diuretics (which were causing him to drink enormous amounts, and pee enormous amounts), so we tried adjusting one of the meds down a bit, but then they found water around the lungs again, so we went back to the original doses. That was in May, and shortly after the checkup my daughter brought covid home from the one school trip she'd taken all year, and we all got it, and it sucked. But generally things seemed to be fine for the cats.

Then in June, he just stopped eating. No interest in the favorite dry foods, no interest in the wet food we'd been giving along with the medications, nothing. For days. Ever since April and the 2x/day meds, his days have absolutely revolved around getting his wet food treats at 11:30 am and pm, and he would let me know in no uncertain terms if I was behind schedule. We thought, oh, crap, is this it? The vet had been sure to warn us that there was no "curing" congestive heart failure in cats, all you can do is give them a good life in the time they have left. Mibu's brother had gone through an episode with a hunger strike years before, but this had never happened, was this it?

I can't tell you what got him over it. Was it the very expensive anti-nausea medication the vet gave him on day 3-4? Was it us pulling out all the stops and giving him tuna fish and even peanut butter if he expressed interest? Was it just time and he was recovering from kitty-covid? No one knows. But one day he started eating again, and soon he was back to normal.

Shortly after that was the family camping trip in Michigan. Usually we'd have a friend or neighbor watch the cats while we're away, but there was no way in heck I was going to ask them to take on the responsibility of giving my elderly cat 7 medications across 2 intervals while monitoring how much he ate and... no, it was just too much. And all the reputable cat boarding places were just full up, it was a popular time for vacations. I was about to give up and just stay home while Jen & kids went off, which would have its own many problems. But... then on a lark I asked our vet if they knew any techs who moonlighted as pet sitters, and astonishingly, there was one - a lady who was no longer at their practice but elsewhere, and she did pet sitting on the side, she had an FB page and all for the business. And even more amazingly, she remembered our cat fondly from his visits in previous years.

She sent pictures of him every day while we were away camping, and then came for one more visit after we got back.

Today was the 4 month checkup at MedVet, where they wanted to do an echocardiogram because our usual vet couldn't do that. And, the vet was clearly flabbergasted. No fluid buildup. Kidneys looking good - even better than April before diuretics. His upper heart chamber had actually reduced in size down to 17mm, which is still still swollen compared to average, but an enormous improvement over before - this apparently never happens. This is not what the guy expected to see, and he said it was fantastic.

So, we're under instructions to keep on doing everything we're doing, and call ASAP if we notice anything. We're still on borrowed time, but he's a happy cat for now.