Survival rate - Congestive heart failure

We came home from vacation last Sunday to find our cat Caesar limping. He hadn't come out of eat since Saturday. We bought him to a vet who she couldn't find anything broken. We bought him home. He refused to eat Monday and was hiding but he's always been very skittish and we thought it was nerves but then he refused it eat the next day. My husband bought him to the vet after he wouldn't eat for a few days and I noticed he was very cold. We originally didn't think it was anything serious because he's 10 and has always been healthy (He's an indoor cat). 

Turns out he has congestive heart failure and his kidney and liver rate was high.

He got moved to the animal hospital and his numbers have gotten better. He's also warmer and more alert.

The doctor told my husband that this will probably eventually kill him. Caesar is my husband's baby and we put my cat to sleep a month ago.

I wanted to know if anyone has dealt with a cat with heart disease? How long did they did they last after being diagnosed? What helped?

I'm so sorry about your kitty!  Do you think he is grieving the loss of his "sibling"?  There is something called broken heart syndrome in humans and I just wonder if there's a correlation there with animals.  They do grieve, and I wonder if grief sometimes brings on the same symptoms in them as sometimes in us?  There's another name for it too - it's a Japanese name.  Can't remember what it is to save me.  The hallmark of this syndrome is that with treatment and care it resolves completely in just a few weeks.  If it doesn't, then it must be CHF secondary to age -related dysfunction.  

I also wonder if he grieved your husband while your husband and you while you were gone.  They don't know when we are coming back.  Maybe the combination of the loss of your kitty had a cumulative effect on him?  Is it possible he got into something toxic while you were gone?

Don't give up hope.  Yes, CHF is fatal but cats can have a good quality of life for awhile if they are responsive to medication.  Mine has had it for a year now although he is quite sick now (all of sudden).  But my vet said he has seen cats live for months to even many years with medication.  

Thanks for all your responses. 

Unfortunately we had to put Caesar to sleep on Tuesday. He started getting worse and he wouldn't eat. Our regular vet and the one at the hospital spoke to my husband that he was fading. He wouldn't eat. If he did, we would have taken him home and let him die there. My vet is very point on when he knows a cat can't be saved. 

We have gone away before without an issue. The vet thought this might be congenital. Although we had gotten him as a kitten, he was found as a stray and was living in some woman's house without being taken care of. 

So sorry to hear this.  On behalf of the TCS Team, we offer our condolences.  We'll lock the thread now out of respect for your loss and invite you to place a tribute to your sweet kitty in our Crossing the Bridge forum.