Saddle thrombus-recovery?

First I'm so sorry to hear Odin is going through this, I wish this condition didn't exist . Wamba's legs weren't working very well and I'm sure he was in pain but he wasn't really showing it so it's hard to say. After he got a shot for the pain that evening, he was starting to walk again in hours, but he was still limping. By the next morning, he seemed more himself. What I think happened with Wamba is that he got a partial clot, so he was able to pass it quicker and the damage wasn't as bad. If Odin isn't in extreme pain and eating and drinking, here's hoping that it's just partial. I've read that when its full the pain is much more severe and unbearable. But of course not a vet. I'll be keeping your cat in my thoughts. Good luck to you.

Hi ToniBranja,

Sorry you are having to deal with this! Sending prayers and healing thoughts to you and Odin.

My understanding is the loss of blood flow triggers the pain and that pain subsides as circulation returns. I don't know because Harvey couldn't talk to me. I kept him on the pain meds until he was using both legs again which took a few days. I never, ever had the sense that Harvey would prefer to be killed than for us to breathe and tap through the pain and get him back on his feet again.

I myself have experienced some very painful injuries in my lifetime. No matter how intense the pain was, temporarily, I'm certainly glad I stayed alive through it

I don't think 50/50 chance is correct, I think if they survive the saddle thrombus, the chance of getting legs back is significantly higher than you were told. Amputation is apparently very rare.

Did they tell you about gently (very gently) massaging the limbs to encourage circulation? I also did a LOT of EFT tapping for Harvey to ease the crisis and restore him as quickly as possible.

Did they tell you how to monitor for congestive heart failure and give you Lasix in case you need it? That is essential for best outcome. We would have sailed through saddle thrombus if we had received the appropriate treatments (thyroid meds for us, and Lasix) and guidance in a timely way.

About a dozen veterinarians told me the absolutely most horrible things I have ever heard and gave me no reason to hope for a full recovery. But here Harvey is nearly 15 months later with both legs fully restored, and stable.

Stay strong. Be careful to double check everything they tell you. A large amount of what they told me was wrong.

Aside from massive amounts of EFT tapping and the "emergency protocol" that I describe on my blog ...

I gave Harvey pep talks ... like think of inspiring movies where the "team" is way down in half time and the coach gives the speech of a lifetime and they come back to win ... That's the kind of pep talk I mean. Several times when things seemed hopeless, the pep talk made a big difference.

Supplements I use that I believe helped Harvey -

Standard Process Cardiac support, Renal support, Whole Body support

Fortiflora probiotics

Epakitin to support kidneys

Potassium (this should only be given if needed; Harvey's tanked from all the Lasix - too low is not good for the heart and too high is not good either - I would only give this if the vets test electrolytes and find it's low)

B vitamins - these have been absolutely essential to his recovery

CoQ10

L-carnitine might also be helpful

I mix the supplements up into a paste and syringe it into his mouth, as he won't take pills.

Thinking of you and wishing you a full recovery!

Thank you so much Boots and Erka for your advice and encouraging words. Since being home his mood is much better. We haven't seen an improvement in his feet just yet and he gets very angry if we try to touch them. Once he feels a bit more calm I will definitely begin gently massaging them.

I havent heard of Lasix yet but will be doing as much research on that as well as your other great suggestions tonight and speak with vet about it in the morning.

I have been thinking his thyroid could be one of the problems as well. He's on a strict diet of 1/4c of Blue Buffalo twice a day and is still slightly overweight for his breed (bengal) at 14 lbs. Would a thyroid disorder cause weight gain in cats as it does in humans?

He is doing very well at eating and drinking so far and begins to crawl around when he needs the litterbox. I'm hoping with all his fluid intake we won't have to worry too much about kidney or uti issues.

With his mood improving since being home I am very hopeful. The vet did say that if the feeling in his legs didn't return in about a week that they probably weren't going to. Thank you for giving me the encouragement to help pull him through this.

Odin is 4 years old and I feel we have many many more years together. I am going to spend whatever money and time it takes to make him well again.

Hi ToniBranja,

Glad to hear that your kitty is a bit happier at home. If we had the meds and guidance we needed, Harvey's recovery would have been much speedier at home. He had major setbacks when I took him in, due to the stress.

That said, something to learn how to do immediately is count the breaths per minute. Keeping track of respiratory rate is a big part of the game right now. If you start to see a fast respiratory rate at rest and/or a lot of movement and abdominal effort ... those are warnings signs possibly of developing congestive heart failure.

I wasn't told until it was too late and Harvey was hospitalized and almost died ... that CHF can be prevented AT HOME with Lasix. But you need the medication and the guidance to know when and how much to give. After I was given proper medication and instruction, I was able to stop CHF at home several times after that.

Harvey is hyperthyroid, which actually causes weight loss. If your cat is overweight, that might not be hyperthyroidism. BUT overweight could contribute to heart disease.

It's so important to understand the CHF so you can stop it before it gets severe. I still count Harvey respiratory rate almost every day to make sure we are remaining stable. I wish someone had told me all this as I could have spared him most of the trauma we endured.

And really please question everything you hear from the vets. A positive "can do" attitude is half the game here.

It is not accurate as far as I understand that feeling would not come back even after a week:

" Occasionally a cat would lose tissue from loss of blood supply or even require limb amputation but these turn out to be exceptions to the rule. Most cats recover normal limb function after their FATE episode.

Expect limb function to begin to improve after 2 to 3 weeks. The cat may require a great deal of nursing care until he is able to walk."

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=3351&S=2

We used the EFT tapping and emergency protocol to accelerate this process but Harvey was still limping 3-4 months later and I feared that the damage was "permanent."

I tapped for him, and he responded to the tapping by initiating his own "physical therapy" program that consisted of shaking his leg vigorously several times a day for several weeks.

Then he stopped shaking his leg. And I noticed the limp was gone, must have been fully 4 months at least since the injury.

The body can always heal given the right conditions. And one of those conditions is you believing that it is POSSIBLE. :nod:

@Erika Awakening thanks for all the info. I'm going to ask my vet about lasix. So far, Wamba hasnt needed it but I want to prepare. At one point do you give Harvey the Lasix? Also is it just for hear failure or can it be used when he throws a clot as well?

Hi BootsM,

As far as I understand, Lasix is only for preventing or relieving the build-up of fluid in the lungs in congestive heart failure. It's a diuretic. Since saddle thrombus cats are at significant risk of this condition, it's important to know the signs and intervene quickly.

Lasix does not help with the clot itself.

For a hyperthyroid cat, it is possible that methimazole does help prevent blood clots. I never heard a vet make this connection but methimazole is on some level a blood thinner so it only makes sense.

Harvey has not been on blood thinners for a very long time. He is though on a pretty high dose of methimazole for his hyperthyroidism.

As I understand it, the blood clots are a result of heart murmur and turbulent blood flow ... so anything you can do the support the healing of the heart, like the Standard Process and nutritional supplements and possibly heart medications, would reduce the risk.

From an energy healing standpoint, a blood clot is an energy blockage. and so clearing blocked energy would also have the potential to reverse a clot and/or lower the risk.

When the vets withheld urgent treatment from Harvey because they were more focused on making money off us ... and all I had was energy healing and my Course in Miracles book, I focused on giving him a pep talk and clearing blocked energy. We got his left leg back very quickly that way.

Wanted to give an update on Odin. After being in 24 care for two days he was allowed to come home with a feeding tube to administer medication and supplement his water intake. He's been doing very well and wants to play. He's purring and very happy even without the full use of his back legs.

We'really currently on asprin, plavix, and two antibiotics. He's purring and getting his personality back.

He's beginning to use his legs more. The left one is doing much better as the clot had moved to the right leg. He's at the vet now for a checkup and to see how the clot is doing.

He can lift himself up to sit on his hind legs and is learning to move around much better.

I know with all the positive signs he's showing he will be able to be fully recovered. We'really seeing a cardiologist next week to check on the clot in his left atrium and confirm we'really on the right medications.

Good news about Odin.  Sounds like he's on the right track.

@BootsM, how's Wamba doing?

Yay so happy to hear about Odin's progress A feeding tube might make things easier. I struggled at first to get Harvey's meds in him.

As long as you've got that feeding tube, it might be a good time to start supplements like CoQ10, Standard Process, B vitamins, possibly Omega 3s. Of course, only use kitty-safe versions.

My philosophy is give the body the building blocks to make healing easier.

For example, there are quite a few reviews about Standard Process cardiac support where a heart murmur improved or disappeared by giving the supplement. Maybe something was missing from the diet that was in the supplement. Since heart murmurs contribute to turbulence in the blood flow, which contributes to clots ... anything that reverses heart murmurs could be helpful.

There is another blood thinner called Lovenox. Initially Harvey was on Plavix and Lovenox. Now he's not on any of them but as I mentioned before, his methimazole may have some blood thinning qualities.

Fingers crossed for Odin to keep improving It's so much better after they get a leg back so they can move around far more freely.

@ToniBranja  So good to hear about Odin. Thats such good news. How I give Wamba his meds is I stuff his pills into a soft treat and then press it back together. It's worked really well. If he is being a bit stubborn, I put a bit of fresh tuna along with the treat. 

@mrsgreenjeens  wamba is doing really well thanks the vets have been very impressed with him. he has slowed down but eats alot, jumps on us, gained weight and seems himself. we're so lucky and i cherish every moment. 

Hi All. I just found and joined this site due to researching saddle thrombus as my cat was just diagnosed yesterday for this. I took him to the vet yesterday due to constipation again(2 months ago diagnosed with the same thing, had an enema and was put on lactulose). He's been fine up until 3 days ago where i noticed poop stuck in his butt again. He finally got it out himself so i didnt worry too much but i did start giving him the lactulose again. Well 2 days ago he started not being able to poop at all and started to vomit everything he tried to eat. So yesterday he threw up again and couldn't poop so i made a 315 pm vet appt. About a block away from the vets office he let out this excrutiating yelp and cries. I thought maybe he just was upset going to the vet again. While we were sitting in the waiting room he was screaming so bad and tossing and turning and trying to claw out of his carrier i knew something wasn't right. As we were brought into the room we pulled him out of the carrier and he had no movement in his rear legs at all and he was screaming like ive never seen. I finally told the tech to get the Dr immediately as i knew something was seriously wrong, she continued to try and weigh him and i told her to STOP and get the DR immediately. The doctor came in and knew it was saddle thrombus due to no movement in the rear legs and his feet pads were turning purple. He took him in the back to give him pain meds and then came and spoke to me to go over his prognosis with this "saddle thrombus". He hasnt given me much hope so far but a cardiologist is suppose to come today and do an echocardiogram and he'll call me tomorrow morning to let me know how bad his heart is. He's 3 years old and was diagnosed when i first rescued him at 7weeks with a slight heart murmer. The dr told me that could have contributed and that this just happens with no warning in most cases. Im sorry for such a long explanation its just that this is the 1st site that has given me some hope as to possibly treating him. I have insurance thank goodness but i still have to pay all up front which for 3 days of hospitalization, the meds and more enemas is over $3000. As of today he still has no feeling in his legs. Im so scared about this because he's just so young and such a special boy to me and my fiance, i want to make sure we do the right thing. Any and all advice is appreciated. Like i said earlier this site is the first that has given me hope so i thank all of you for that. Im sure i left something out so ask any questions you need to.

I'm sorry to say my Milo has passed away as of 5pm today. The dr said he had hcm pretty bad. I still can't grasp this.

I'm so sorry you lost Milo. It's doubly hard when it is sudden like this. He knew you loved him and you gave him 3 good years.

When you can, post a tribute to him in the Crossing the Bridge thread. 

Lovemykittys25 said:

I'm sorry to say my Milo has passed away as of 5pm today. The dr said he had hcm pretty bad. I still can't grasp this.

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I lost 2 young cats to HCM (5 years old and 4 months old). The 5 year old had saddle thrombus too. I am so sorry for your loss of sweet Milo.

Thank you dreamer and oldglory. I will try and post in the crossing the bridge thread eventually. Milo was so special to us. Me and my fiance are having a hard time with this. We just don't understand that if he had a heart murmer since he was a baby why wouldn't the drs have requested doing tests for his heart sooner.

@Lovemykittys25  I am so very sorry to hear about Milo. My first vet disregard my cats heart murmur as well. It's unfortunate that not every vet has the same skill set or take as much care as others. You did all you could have though and should be proud of that, I'm sure he knows how much he's loved. My condolences

Thank you boots, i appreciate that.