Munchie's Many Issues

cprcheetah · Jan 29, 2014

OMG OMG OMG! So I was waiting a couple of months for his cardiac ultrasound because I owed money at the vet, well we got some AWESOME Science Diet coupons that left me with a credit, soI am going to get Munchies ultrasound tomorrow.

I am very excited, this way I will know exactly what is going on. It will be by a board certified Internal Medicine specialist. I will get the Ultrasound images on a cd, and she gives her interpretation as well as treatment recommendations in her report. I can't wait. I will update after the Ultrasound tomorrow.

scarlett 001 · Jan 29, 2014

So this is a cardiac ultrasound only - or will you do an abdominal one as well to see how things are with the other lower organs??

cprcheetah · Jan 29, 2014

Just a cardiac one as far as I know. His other organs seemed okay on the xrays and his bloodwork was all within normal limits.

cprcheetah · Jan 30, 2014

so ultrasound didnt go so well, Munchie was uber congested and gunky in his nose so was struggling to breath, so we got part of it, he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. they think the fluid is due to his respiratory infection and not heart failure. So we sedated him and flushed his nose out, took 2 liters of saline to get all the goop out. He was scoped for polyps and did not have any, but his soft pallateis spongy probably due to the chronic infection. So he is going to be switched to ditilizem and then going on zithromycin for 2 to 3 months but just getting it every 3 days. she did say to reevaluate after a few months on the new drug.

goholistic · Jan 30, 2014

Aww....Munchie. Poor guy.

Wait...did we know he has HCM? Or is this a new diagnosis?

cprcheetah · Jan 30, 2014

We suspected HCM but it is now confirmed. She also said something about his valve or something, I'm going to call her tomorrow to find out exactly what she said cause I can't remember. We are going to take him off of the Enacard and titer down on the Furosemide for a week then take him off of it and see how he does. We really think a lot of his breathing issues are due to the congestion/infection/virus going on in his nose. I was really leary of putting him under anesthesia but he did really well so I think in a few months when we get him more stabilized we can do the FHO on his hip, which will help with his pain levels. She (the internal medicine specialist) thinks we should put him on Buprenex for his joint issues too. He's already on tramadol. He is already feeling so much better. I was shocked at how much mucous/snot we got out of him, just when we thought he was done we got more out lol. Poor guy, I can't believe how much he had up there. We are going to put saline up his nose every day to keep things moist, as well as do the shower thing where we put him in the steamy bathroom a few times a week to help with the congestion. It was really cool to be in the room with him and see the ultrasound, in all the years I've worked for a vet I've never seen one done before. I got the images on a cd so that's pretty cool too. She did say that one measurement of his heart was supposed to be 5 and his is 10 EEK! I am going to talk to her about that as well tomorrow. She said that the Ditilizam will help with the valve issue.

miki · Jan 30, 2014

cprcheetah said:
We suspected HCM but it is now confirmed. She also said something about his valve or something, I'm going to call her tomorrow to find out exactly what she said cause I can't remember. We are going to take him off of the Enacard and titer down on the Furosemide for a week then take him off of it and see how he does. We really think a lot of his breathing issues are due to the congestion/infection/virus going on in his nose. I was really leary of putting him under anesthesia but he did really well so I think in a few months when we get him more stabilized we can do the FHO on his hip, which will help with his pain levels. She (the internal medicine specialist) thinks we should put him on Buprenex for his joint issues too. He's already on tramadol. He is already feeling so much better. I was shocked at how much mucous/snot we got out of him, just when we thought he was done we got more out lol. Poor guy, I can't believe how much he had up there. We are going to put saline up his nose every day to keep things moist, as well as do the shower thing where we put him in the steamy bathroom a few times a week to help with the congestion. It was really cool to be in the room with him and see the ultrasound, in all the years I've worked for a vet I've never seen one done before. I got the images on a cd so that's pretty cool too. She did say that one measurement of his heart was supposed to be 5 and his is 10 EEK! I am going to talk to her about that as well tomorrow. She said that the Ditilizam will help with the valve issue.

raintyger · Jan 30, 2014

I'm sorry for the bad news. But at least now you have a diagnosis and can start treatment. Munchie's been through so much already, I know he can pull through for you.

scarlett 001 · Jan 30, 2014

That is a lot for you to take in. How are you holding up after hearing all of this new information?

cprcheetah · Jan 30, 2014

Scarlett 001 said:
That is a lot for you to take in. How are you holding up after hearing all of this new information?

Well I am glad that he's not in heart failure, but the diagnosis sucks. I lost his half brother to HCM when he was 9 months old, so it has me really worried. Especially with the whole measurement thing she was talking about, his was twice what it should be. Doing lots of research on how to treat it both conventionally and holistically. I just worry as a lot of HCM cats just drop dead. So that has me a little freaked out. He is my baby boy, I have known him since he was about 6 weeks old. Brought him home at about 6 weeks old.

ldg · Jan 31, 2014

I'm so sorry about the diagnosis. :hugs:

I take it the valve issue is related to the HCM and not a mitral valve prolapse kind of thing? We were very fortunate with Flowerbelle, she was diagnosed with the MVP, not HCM.

I'm not familiar with the meds, what they do, or what an "FHO" in relation to his hip would be. But I'm VERY happy to hear he did so well with the anesthesia - and thank goodness, he must be feeling SO much better with all that gunk gone. !!!! TWO LITERS of saline solution to flush him out? Wow! He is so very, very, VERY lucky to have such a wonderful mum! :rub: :heart2: :hugs:

mrsgreenjeens · Jan 31, 2014

Hoping now that you've got a firm diagnosis, you can get him on the right track

cprcheetah · Jan 31, 2014

The FHO is surgery to basically remove the ball out of the hip joint so it isnt rubbing bone on bone and causing him pain. he has no structure or the acebuttelium (sp?) in his hip joint. So the bone is just rubbing on the bone.

ldg · Jan 31, 2014

Oh! Yes, then even better he did so well with the anesthesia! :vibes:

cprcheetah · Jan 31, 2014

EEEK! So I just weighed Munchie, he was 15.4# on the 21st, he is now 13.8#! I knew he wasn't eating good but holy cow. I am freaked out a little bit, I did call my dad and he said that with all the fluid he had it could just be water weight that he lost. Yikes! So my vet is having a hard time finding the Ditilizem in the XR (so we only have to give it once a day instead of three times a day) from her suppliers, so I have been trying to find it and found it on Walgreens value list. I would have to pay the $35 then it's $15 for 30 capsules which would last him about 4 months. Which isn't bad. Then the Zithromycin since he has to have such an odd schedule (5 days then every 3 days) and once reconstituted it goes bad in 10 days. It's $14 a bottle her cost. So I'd essentially have to pay $14 every 10 days. Not sure hubby will go for that he's already not happy with the latest vet bills.

scarlett 001 · Feb 1, 2014

cprcheetah said:
EEEK! So I just weighed Munchie, he was 15.4# on the 21st, he is now 13.8#! I knew he wasn't eating good but holy cow. I am freaked out a little bit, I did call my dad and he said that with all the fluid he had it could just be water weight that he lost. Yikes! So my vet is having a hard time finding the Ditilizem in the XR (so we only have to give it once a day instead of three times a day) from her suppliers, so I have been trying to find it and found it on Walgreens value list. I would have to pay the $35 then it's $15 for 30 capsules which would last him about 4 months. Which isn't bad. Then the Zithromycin since he has to have such an odd schedule (5 days then every 3 days) and once reconstituted it goes bad in 10 days. It's $14 a bottle her cost. So I'd essentially have to pay $14 every 10 days. Not sure hubby will go for that he's already not happy with the latest vet bills.

Zithrmomax does come in a pill form in Canada - not sure if it does where you live. If you can split it to get the right dosage, that does stop the issue of the liquid going bad in 10 days (I've used both forms of Zithromax in the past). The odd schedule for Zithromax is that it has a loooooong 1/2 life compared to most other antibiotics (something like 48-72 hours 1/2 life).

I've had similar upset about weight loss, which was why I took all my cats in over xmas as I knew something was up. At least you are working on fixing things up so the weight should stabilize.

cocheezie · Feb 1, 2014

Zithromax pills can be split, but ZMAX (a long-acting form of the same drug) can not be split or crushed. ZMAX is designed for slow release and you would be overloading the cat.

scarlett 001 · Feb 1, 2014

Never heard of ZMAX. Interesting that it exists.

cocheezie · Feb 1, 2014

My mistake. Sorry. Didn't read far enough. Keep being interrupted by demanding cats. ZMAX SR seems to be the liquid suspension.

If you do the math, you could weigh the powder, divide it into 5-day doses. Add proportion of distilled water and end up with a 5-day supply.

cprcheetah · Feb 1, 2014

So the powder will be $59 which we can't afford right now, we are tapped out and having his ultrasound and everything else I have dealt with recently (DeeJay, Mini Dee's dental and extractions, Munchies bloodwork, xrays etc) it's just too expensive. We found it in an injectable form which will last longer and he would only need less than 1/10 of a cc per dose. I can easily give him injections every 3 days. So I think that's the route we are going to take. It's $10 for a 10ml bottle which would last the entire time and then some. So I am happier about that. Oh and about his weight, apparently my scale was wrong last night.....he is 15.2# LOL That's quite the difference lol.

Munchie's Many Issues

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter