My cat Benny is 4 years old. He has had urinary problems 2 times. The first time was mild and required amoxicillin and a diet change which resulted in a quick recovery. A few years later, Benny seemed completely fine until immediate symptoms occurred with him becoming extremely lethargic, not eating or drinking much and avoiding using the bathroom. I took him into my usual clinic and they conducted blood work samples which came back normal except for elevated levels of glucose which they suggested could be from stress. They sent us home with beads and a syringe to try and get a UA sample which we were successfully able to do after a day. The urine sample came back with a PH level of 6.5 and some crystals in the urine and they prescribed amoxicillin. Assuming this was the problem, he still struggled to eat or drink, go to the bathroom and was completely out of it and wanted to hide and sleep all day. My instincts kicked in and I called the emergency vet clinic to tell them what was going on. I eventually took him in a few hours later after I called at 3 am in the morning because having little answers as to what was going on was killing me.
The vet told me that he had feline idiopathic cystitis, highly concentrated urine and crystals but proceeded to tell me that Benny had a heart murmur and asked if my vet ever told me about this and of course I had no idea. She didn’t seem too concerned but recommended and echocardiogram in the future. When I discovered that she said he had a grade 4 heart murmur my heart sank. Still a couple days after the ER visit and a week of lethargy and barely eating and already over 300 dollars expenses, I still did not have an answer I was looking for and a sick cat to worry about. I took him in for X-rays which I wish they had suggested as the first course of action because they found fluid build up in his lungs and the vet suggested that the heart murmur was the likely culprit causing his symptoms. Right away she gave him a lasix injection and since then he has been his normal self and has responded very well to taking the generic lasix daily 0.5 ml twice daily. I proceeded on with an echocardiogram test and they indicated that HCM is likely the diagnosis since the combination of the internal diameter of the left ventricle of his heart being severely diminished, hypertrophy of the LVPW and borderline hypertrophy of the septum makes HCM likely. My vet has said that the likelihood of his life span will be shortened but can vary on how he responds to all this. His next step is more blood work and blood pressure tests and continuing on lasix and possibly lowering the dosage with no other medications recommended at this point in time. With my baby’s heart broken, mine is broken too thinking everyday about the outcome of his quality of life. I always question many things that led up to this point of his life. I had heard that anesthesia could have caused this and I know he had been under anesthesia twice in his lifetime and I have tried my best to feed him proper food even with all the research I have done on the best food for him even then the top brands aren’t always the best outcome and the vet highly recommends Benny stays on urinary s/o food for the rest of his life. I heard dry food is terrible and wet food is better but then you’re left with all these reviews of many products not being “grain-free” or containing too many carbs, by-products, corn, rice, etc, etc. I am so exhausted worrying about how to be the perfect pet owner and do all the right things. I feel as though some but not all pet food companies and vets are just out to get your money and in the end I fear that all this money I have spent on him already will not be enough to save him.
Anyone out there going through the same issue I would love to hear your suggestions.
The vet told me that he had feline idiopathic cystitis, highly concentrated urine and crystals but proceeded to tell me that Benny had a heart murmur and asked if my vet ever told me about this and of course I had no idea. She didn’t seem too concerned but recommended and echocardiogram in the future. When I discovered that she said he had a grade 4 heart murmur my heart sank. Still a couple days after the ER visit and a week of lethargy and barely eating and already over 300 dollars expenses, I still did not have an answer I was looking for and a sick cat to worry about. I took him in for X-rays which I wish they had suggested as the first course of action because they found fluid build up in his lungs and the vet suggested that the heart murmur was the likely culprit causing his symptoms. Right away she gave him a lasix injection and since then he has been his normal self and has responded very well to taking the generic lasix daily 0.5 ml twice daily. I proceeded on with an echocardiogram test and they indicated that HCM is likely the diagnosis since the combination of the internal diameter of the left ventricle of his heart being severely diminished, hypertrophy of the LVPW and borderline hypertrophy of the septum makes HCM likely. My vet has said that the likelihood of his life span will be shortened but can vary on how he responds to all this. His next step is more blood work and blood pressure tests and continuing on lasix and possibly lowering the dosage with no other medications recommended at this point in time. With my baby’s heart broken, mine is broken too thinking everyday about the outcome of his quality of life. I always question many things that led up to this point of his life. I had heard that anesthesia could have caused this and I know he had been under anesthesia twice in his lifetime and I have tried my best to feed him proper food even with all the research I have done on the best food for him even then the top brands aren’t always the best outcome and the vet highly recommends Benny stays on urinary s/o food for the rest of his life. I heard dry food is terrible and wet food is better but then you’re left with all these reviews of many products not being “grain-free” or containing too many carbs, by-products, corn, rice, etc, etc. I am so exhausted worrying about how to be the perfect pet owner and do all the right things. I feel as though some but not all pet food companies and vets are just out to get your money and in the end I fear that all this money I have spent on him already will not be enough to save him.
Anyone out there going through the same issue I would love to hear your suggestions.