Cat with congestive heart failure sneezing

dalsanto

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About six weeks ago, my 14 year old cat Mulligan started sneezing intermittently. She would sneeze a few times in a row and then not sneeze again for hours or even days. She was eating and active and did not have a fever or a runny nose or eyes. My husband and I thought it might be allergies.
The frequency of the sneezing increased, so my husband took her to the vet. The vet he goes to is not very insightful or talented in my opinion and my husband wasn't very descriptive when explaining the cat's symptoms, so she was diagnosed with an upper respiratory disease and given liquid antibiotics.
Mulligan hated the liquid that we had to give her twice a day. It was quite a battle and her symptoms weren't improving. About 5 days later when I was at work, she started breathing very laboriously. She was clearly in great distress so my husband rushed her to the vet. They X-rayed her chest and it was full of fluid, so the vet gave Mulligan a shot of Lasix and a prescription for lasix pills. My husband also mentioned that the antibiotic did not seem to help with the cat's sneezing, so the vet prescribed a second antibiotic (also liquid).
Fortunately the lasix has been working and my kitty seems like her normal self most of the time---though I understand our time with her may be limited. The odd thing is, she has never completely stopped sneezing even after a full course of the second antibiotic. The sneezing is bad some mornings but totally fine most of the time. Could this be a symptom of the CHF?!?
Also, do most cats diagnosed with CHF get an ACE inhibitor prescribed as well as lasix?
Thanks for any input.
 

tamu708

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I lost my cat Thomas to CHF in June 2015 at the age of 17.  He lived 9 months after being diagnosed by a cardiologist.  He was on a combination of Vetmedin, Benazepril, Furosemide and Spironolactone.  He did very well on this combination, but he did have to have his chest tapped twice. 

But yes, an ACE inhibitor is common with the diuretic. 

Thomas never had a sneezing issue.  The only time my cats have had a sneezing issue is when they had colds.

Hope your baby does well. 
 

slufferk

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This is how our Francie's idiopathic chylothorax diagnosis began. Sneezing. Fluid in chest. They thought it was CHF but after a test on her heart they found it to be fine. Almost a month later a bit of sneezing, loss of appetite, and a chest tap every seven days while we try an experimental steroid injection three times a day.

Find a different vet if your general one appears to be lacking. I've come across really terrible vets, many of them who own multiple practices and by all accounts are "great" but they're anything but.
 
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dalsanto

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Thank you for the information. I had never heard of chylothorax, so I have a lot of research to do. I'm so sorry that you and your kitty had to go through all of that difficult treatment. It's so horrible to see them sick. I will definitely take Mulligan to a different vet for a second opinion. I'm not 100% convinced it's CHF at this point.
 
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