A cat forum. CatBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CatBanter forum » Cat Newsgroups » Cat health & behaviour
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 4th 07, 04:31 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
sparky
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur

Hi,

This is my first time posting. I have recently taken my cat to the
vet due to a fight Lucky was recently in. Lucky is normally a placed
cat and I was surprised that at 12 years old, he would end up with
bites on his neck, which led to an abcess. The vet did several tests
which eliminated many potential problems. Lucky has a heart murmur of
3/6...this has increased from last year. He has respiratory problems
but my concern is that he has been losing weight the past year yet
eats a lot.
The vet has narrowed the problems down to these and will take blood
tests when Lucky has his
checkup this Friday: he has heartworm or feline aids. I do not feel
that he has feline aids. He is not a fighter (this is the first time
he came home with bites and scratches from a fight). Even though I put
Revolution on him monthly year round and he gets shots yearly, he has
little hair on his ears and I live in GA where mosquitoes are
plentiful and Lucky does like the outdoors.
Lucky is 12 years old and has a heart murmur. If he does have
heartworm, could anyone give me a
guesstimate as to the time Lucky might have left? Has anyone had a
cat who has had heartworm?
I have read info online but would like some human experience. The
ironic twist to this is that I went to the Cobb County Humane Society
to select one kitten that day(in the cell next to Lucky) and Lucky (an
all-black cat) was in the adjacent cell and he would take one bite of
food and look at me. The worker came over and told me that nobody
wanted him after 8 weeks and they were going to put him to sleep that
afternoon . He told me that Lucky had such a nice personality and so
I could not live with myself if I did not take him. As it turned out,
Lucky is a very good cat, very loving. I don't have any children so
Lucky and his sister Chelsea are my "babies".
Any info at all would be appreciated.

Sparky
  #2  
Old December 4th 07, 06:25 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
cybercat
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,212
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur


"sparky" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This is my first time posting. I have recently taken my cat to the
vet due to a fight Lucky was recently in. Lucky is normally a placed
cat and I was surprised that at 12 years old, he would end up with
bites on his neck, which led to an abcess.


You let him out. There was never any need to let him out. By doing
so, you endangered him. Way to go.


  #3  
Old December 4th 07, 07:44 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
cybercat
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,212
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur


"sparky" wrote

He is not a fighter (this is the first time
he came home with bites and scratches from a fight).


The problem is, Lucky may be placid and not like fighting, but
other cats do and he is getting old. Left outside to fend for
himself, what is he supposed to do when an aggressive animal
corners or catches him?

Please keep your cats in where they are safe.


  #4  
Old December 4th 07, 11:59 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
sparky
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur

Hi Cybercat,

Thanks for your posts. I accept responsibility for allowing Lucky to
be outside at times. Chelsea, the female, stays inside except for her
daily walk , but Lucky likes to sun outside for a few hours and I have
an 8 ft. wood fence around the backyard. This intruder cat came into
my backyard and I had to stop the fight with a water gun. Lucky will
remain totally indoors unless I walk him with a leash in the backyard
(yes, even though Chelsea was an indoor cat, they were used to their
5PM walk around the wooded backyard for a half hour and then they had
dinner.) I will continue their late afternoon walks, as I have for
the last 12 years but now they both will be on leashes. Otherwise,
they will stay indoors. (Lucky will not have any walks until he has
been cleared by the vet).

Sparky



On Dec 4, 1:44 pm, "cybercat" wrote:
"sparky" wrote

He is not a fighter (this is the first time
he came home with bites and scratches from a fight).


The problem is, Lucky may be placid and not like fighting, but
other cats do and he is getting old. Left outside to fend for
himself, what is he supposed to do when an aggressive animal
corners or catches him?

Please keep your cats in where they are safe.


  #5  
Old December 5th 07, 12:08 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
cybercat
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,212
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur


"sparky" wrote in message
...
Hi Cybercat,

Thanks for your posts. I accept responsibility for allowing Lucky to
be outside at times. Chelsea, the female, stays inside except for her
daily walk , but Lucky likes to sun outside for a few hours and I have
an 8 ft. wood fence around the backyard. This intruder cat came into
my backyard and I had to stop the fight with a water gun. Lucky will
remain totally indoors unless I walk him with a leash in the backyard
(yes, even though Chelsea was an indoor cat, they were used to their
5PM walk around the wooded backyard for a half hour and then they had
dinner.) I will continue their late afternoon walks, as I have for
the last 12 years but now they both will be on leashes. Otherwise,
they will stay indoors. (Lucky will not have any walks until he has
been cleared by the vet).


Sparky, I am so glad to hear you'll be keeping him in. Sorry for assuming
you allowed the sweet old guy to roam, many people do. I wish I could
help with your specific questions but I have no experience with heartworm.


  #6  
Old December 5th 07, 01:40 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
22brix
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 506
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur


"sparky" wrote in message
...
Hi,

This is my first time posting. I have recently taken my cat to the
vet due to a fight Lucky was recently in. Lucky is normally a placed
cat and I was surprised that at 12 years old, he would end up with
bites on his neck, which led to an abcess. The vet did several tests
which eliminated many potential problems. Lucky has a heart murmur of
3/6...this has increased from last year. He has respiratory problems
but my concern is that he has been losing weight the past year yet
eats a lot.
The vet has narrowed the problems down to these and will take blood
tests when Lucky has his
checkup this Friday: he has heartworm or feline aids. I do not feel
that he has feline aids. He is not a fighter (this is the first time
he came home with bites and scratches from a fight). Even though I put
Revolution on him monthly year round and he gets shots yearly, he has
little hair on his ears and I live in GA where mosquitoes are
plentiful and Lucky does like the outdoors.
Lucky is 12 years old and has a heart murmur. If he does have
heartworm, could anyone give me a
guesstimate as to the time Lucky might have left? Has anyone had a
cat who has had heartworm?
I have read info online but would like some human experience. The
ironic twist to this is that I went to the Cobb County Humane Society
to select one kitten that day(in the cell next to Lucky) and Lucky (an
all-black cat) was in the adjacent cell and he would take one bite of
food and look at me. The worker came over and told me that nobody
wanted him after 8 weeks and they were going to put him to sleep that
afternoon . He told me that Lucky had such a nice personality and so
I could not live with myself if I did not take him. As it turned out,
Lucky is a very good cat, very loving. I don't have any children so
Lucky and his sister Chelsea are my "babies".
Any info at all would be appreciated.

Sparky


Hi Sparky,

I've had two cats with heartworm and had totally different experiences with
both of them--Sam eventually had to be put to sleep because of his illness,
Hailey is doing fantastically and is now heartworm clear. It is NOT
automatically fatal but there isn't any treatment for it currently. It's
basically supportive care.

With Sam, I first noticed a problem with his breathing--it just seemed
harder for him to exhale--he wasn't panting or anything, just pushing a
little harder than usual. He had fluid (pseudochyle) building up around his
lungs. At first the vets were able to remove the fluid and he would breathe
easier for several weeks; but after two or three months it would build up
faster and faster. He lost his appetite, began coughing more and eventually
began coughing up blood. At that point it became obvious he was no longer
responding to treatment and we just couldn't put him through any more. It
was so hard--he was a sweet, wonderful kitty we had rescued and we had been
looking forward to many more years with him. He was on heartworm
preventative but had been exposed before we rescued him.

Hailey had a more acute onset. I went to feed him one morning and found him
semi-conscious, he gave out a yowl like he was hurt or frightened, lost
bladder control, was limp and his gums were totally white. Ten minutes
later Hailey was walking around looking for his breakfast like nothing had
happened and wondering what the fuss was all about. I rushed him to the
emergency vet who did some blood work and found many microfilaria (baby
heartworms) in his blood. I don't recall everything that happened with him
but other than some coughing periodically Hailey has never had any more
symptoms. He was on Prednisolone for a little while. He has been heartworm
free for about 4 or 5 years now. He is 9 years old and that happened when
he was about 2. He was/is an indoor kitty--unfortunately indoor cats can
get heartworm, too. At the time he was diagnosed I didn't realize that
heartworm was a problem in cats in this area ( Northern California) so none
of my cats were on prevention. They sure are now!

What type of tests did the vet do? How did s/he eliminate other causes of
weight loss? There are sooo many things that can cause weight loss in cats.
I'm not a vet but I would think it unlikely that Lucky would have heartworm
if you've been giving him Revolution regularly.

I hope everything works out okay--my cats are my "babies" too!

Bonnie





  #7  
Old December 5th 07, 02:12 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
-Lost
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 458
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur

Response to sparky :

I will continue their late afternoon walks, as I have for
the last 12 years but now they both will be on leashes.


Not sure if you actually meant "leashes" as opposed to "harnesses," but
I would suggest a good harness.

First off, I really don't think an animal that cannot drag you across
the yard needs a leash. HAHA!

Secondly, with the harness, if that idiot cat comes over the fence
again you can safely *yank* Lucky into your arms and get indoors
without breaking poor Lucky's neck.

Good luck with everything else. Sorry I don't have helpful information
about heartworm.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.
  #8  
Old December 5th 07, 12:36 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
jmc
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 610
Default Cat's survival with heartworm and 3+ heart murmur

Suddenly, without warning, sparky exclaimed (12/5/2007 1:01 AM):
Hi,


The vet has narrowed the problems down to these and will take blood
tests when Lucky has his
checkup this Friday: he has heartworm or feline aids.
Even though I put
Revolution on him monthly year round and he gets shots yearly,


Odd. One of the things that Revolution controls is heartworms. Have
you just put him on it because of the heartworm diagnosis? Because if
he's been on it for a while, I'd seriously doubt the heartworm diagnosis.

http://www.revolution4cats.com/displ...s=FL& sec=100

jmc
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Heart murmur, x-ray normal yngver Cat health & behaviour 2 April 3rd 07 04:16 PM
Fudge has a heart murmur Kate Cat anecdotes 22 December 17th 06 09:29 PM
Heart Murmur jmc Cat health & behaviour 3 February 13th 06 12:02 PM
Cat Heart Murmur janet Cats - misc 0 April 10th 05 07:21 PM
heart murmur Supercell Cat health & behaviour 25 March 18th 05 06:39 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 03:17 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CatBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.