My poor cat Willow.

I am sure you have seen me post about my cat Willow who was having the stomache problems. Well when we took her to the vet in Feburary the vets wife at our local vet checked up my cat Willow and said her heart murmer was doing well (she was diagnosed with heart murmer last year) and she said she had a stomache problem and gave us some meds and we were on our way.

If you had seen my recent post about Willow this week that she had diarriha and then she was vomitting so we decided to take her to the vet today. So we did and this time she was seen by the vet VET! the husband. And said that he's pretty sure she has a bacteria infection from eating a bug on our porch probably and he gave us some meds to give her, and said thats probably why she was vomitting and had dirriha.

But then he feels her and goes "woahhh" he said her heart got bigger! even though his wife in Feb. said she was getting better, so i guess that the bigger heart could also be making her vomit and stuff. And he said it could be her thyriod or her heart or both! he also thinks that maybe she was born with this heart disease because he said it was vdery rare for a cat this young (she's 4 going to be 5 in October) to get this heart disease, so just to get them to diagnose this is 140 dollers and meds would be 30 dollers a month and everything and i just cannot offord it and the vet said she's just not going to live a regular cat lifespan. And it seems to me that without this treatment she will be lucky to live another year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is horrible. So after he treated her and said this he said he forgot to weigh her, he said that you can really tell if her heart is bad if she has lost weight since he saw her last May, and she GAINED weight!!! So i guess that is a plus, but still this really stinks! i don't want to loose my kitty! just thought i would let you all know.

You and your kitty are in my prayers.

Originally Posted by Mcat

You and your kitty are in my prayers.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Cats can live with heart murmurs and they can have long lives. Really, the only way to find out how large the heart is by running an extensive test- an ultrasound. With cats, the damage goes to the heart muscle, not the valves, which is why the ultrasound is needed. Dogs with heart murmurs get their valves damaged. I would take your cat to a feline specialist. For your vet to be able to manipulate the kitty and declare the heart is enlarged is a bit suspect. They only run an ultrasound if they feel the cat is headed toward cardiomyopathy.

You need to be aware of the following symptoms and if Willow exhibits them get her to the specialist immediately:

Lethargy
Lack of appetite
coughing (especially a wet cough)
Abnormal shallow breathing
Pale gums or other signs of anemia

Sending lots of good vibes to Willow

Is the vets wife also a vet??

I agree with hissy's post.

Find a specialist & get a 2nd opinion. In people, you can palpate an enlarged heart, but it's gotten pretty big if you can detect the displacement just by touching. Ultrasound should be able to tell you heart muscle thickness and size. When cardiomyopathy is bad, the person (the cat) will be symptomatic...heart not pumping properly to supply all your organs.

Maybe another vet will give you better news. Healing vibes for your kitty!

Awe I am sending many good vibes your way I agree to get a second opinion

Please keep us updated

Sending good thoughts and prayers for Willow.

How did the vet know her heart got bigger if his wife is the one who listened before? I think the advice about a second vet is a good idea! I hope everything works out.