We've lost two of our geriatric cats over the last 18 months
to sudden death – Larry and Joyce. Both were indoor-only feral cats about 16
years old and neither death came with forewarning. Joyce’s death was so sudden that we had no chance
to get her to a vet for examination – we just woke up one morning and she was
gone – we assume it was a heart problem but have no clinical proof of
that.
Larry on the other hand started showing signs of distress a
few days before he died – he stopped eating and stayed under a bed coming out
only to use a litter box. We knew he was
in trouble and took him to the vet for treatment. And -- since Larry had had a complete
physical exam last December -- we went into the appointment knowing that 5
months ago he was in good health for a geriatric cat – no indication of kidney
disease, hyperthyroidism or cancer – at least none that were picked up by the exam
or lab work.
But by the time Larry reached the clinic he had gone from
being an ostensibly healthy cat two days earlier to a terminally ill cat with
all his vital signs shutting down – the change was dramatic and alarming. An x-ray pointed to the culprit – congestive
heart failure brought on by cardiomyopathy.
As sad as it sounds, Larry’s unannounced and quick death is not uncommon
with this disease – and it is often genetically-based so the average age of
death from cardiomyopathy is a young 7 years old – and most of the victims are
males. In its advanced stage, the
prognosis is very bad – even with treatment which is more of a “Hail Mary” than
a sure thing. Blood clots often result in the hind legs
causing extreme pain and paralysis.
The advance symptoms are minimal if any. If your cat goes in for annual physical exams
and your vet detects a heart murmur that could point to
cardiomyopathy which can be confirmed only through further testing by a
cardiologist. But – not all cats with
cardiomyopathy have heart murmurs so even with an annual exam it can go
undetected until the end stage when the naturally stoic cat can no longer hide
the signs of distress.
Simply put, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease of
the heart muscle that eventually prevents the heart from pumping properly
causing fluid buildup ending in congestive heart failure. Although the condition develops over time, there are few early signs and since cats are masters at hiding illness it’s
hard to pick up on until it’s too late.
To learn more about feline cardiomyopathy visit our web site.
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