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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
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