My cat just got diagnosed with congestive heart failure

My cat Skippy has had a heart murmur since he was 2 yrs old. He is now 12. For about a week, I sensed something was off about him but wasn't sure what it was - he was more needy and was scratching his face.  I thought he had allergies.  On Monday, he suddenly got up and started breathing with his mouth open and collapsed. I rushed him to emergency and he stayed there overnight.  He has CHF and he's on Lasix (furosemide) and Clopidogrel. He is stable but does not want to eat. I made chicken, lamb, tried different cat foods but he doesn't want anything. He's nibbled half-heartedly on some of his regular food.  He drinks water regularly and I've gotten him to drink water with sardines.  He sleeps most of the time but he gets up regularly on his own and walks around the apartment.  The vet says he has a year on meds. 

Should I just let him be or ask the vet for something to get him to eat?

Thank you all in advance - I am so grateful to find this community of cat people. 

Hi, and welcome to TCS Im so sorry it isnt under happier circumstances

You HAVE to get him eating - the last thing he (or you) needs is to add hepatic lipidosis to his problems!

How's his breathing now? If he's still finding it tough, the action of putting his head down to eat may just be too uncomfortable. Holding the bowl so he doesn't have to drop his head may help, and hand feeding can work well too.

Do remember that CHF reduces appetite, and so do the meds he's on to treat it - it really does get you coming and going Forget about balanced food right now - just find anything that will get him eating. Warm food is smelling than cold, so warming the food up may help tempt him. I found with my guys (had a CHF cat, who passed a couple of years ago,and now my dog's developed it) that putting a tiny morsel in their mouths could sometimes wake up their appetite enough to get them eating - tasting the food really can help.

If that doesn't work, my next step is to ask the vet for a B12 injection. That will often provide enough of a boost to get them eating again. If that doesn't work, the other option is a specific appetite stimulant - but as these can have unpleasant side effects, I always like to try the B12 first.

If you absolutely can't get him eating any other way, then syringe feeding is your final option. I do have one proviso here though - for me, with something like CHF, it's fine to do that for a couple of days to get them over a hump, but it should not be considered as a long term/permanent solution. Most cats find the process quite stressful, and with something like CHF, my personal feeling is that if they consistently refuse food, then I have to consider if maybe it's time

I will add, though, that I went through the not eating many times with Cali, and it's a regular feature with Pixie. In both cases, we'd have a few bad days, and then (often with the aid of one of the tricks above) things would improve again for a while - so don't panic quite yet

Something that helped Cali enormously was a combination of oral steroids and inhaled steroids (like those used for asthma). They won't be appropriate in every case (my dog isn't on them, and doesn't need them - his symptoms are different to Cal's), but they can make an enormous difference. The steroids given via an AeroKat device gave Cal another few months of good quality of of life, so that may be something to discuss with your vet.

I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. CHF is SUCH a cruel disease [article="32998"][/article]
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Thanks. So it looks like he will eat only if I hand feed him - which is fine - I just want him to eat something.