Heart disease and furosemide

[dbcatperson]

I need advice. I posted about my cat Bob who has diabetes but I’ve been dealing with another cat with a problem. I noticed that she seemed to be breathing very fast or her heart rate was fast. Back in May she had laryngitis and was near to having pneumonia and received an antibiotic and recovered. She didn’t have laryngitis this time but I noticed she was breathing fast or her heart was racing more. She stopped coming into bed and wasn't eating much.

Went to the vet and they did an x-ray and noticed her heart looks bigger and when she listened to her heart, it was all over the place. The vet said it looks like heart disease. She thought she could also have asthma and bronchitis too.

The vet gave her an antibiotic shot again and gave me furosemide to give her but to wait a couple days to see how she does first on just the antibiotic before giving her furosemide. Well, it’s going to be the third day today and I see she still has the racy type heart rate and she isn’t eating as much and mostly lays around. I noticed her doing jerky movements too—like she’ll do when she’s dreaming but she does this while she’s awake.

I’m wondering how good and safe furosemide is to use for heart disease? I’m a little afraid to try it today since it’s a Sunday and the vet isn’t in. just wondering what has worked for others. I did order some heart drops from pet wellbeing but I won’t get them until Tuesday.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Maurey]

furosemide is very much safe in prescribed dosages, but I wouldn’t use it without an ultrasound done by a vet cardiologist. It’s used for managing CHF, to remove fluid from the area around the heart. It may not be the right treatment even if your little one does have a heart problem. Or she may need another drug, in addition to the furosemide.

 

[silent meowlook]

This is tough to say because I don't understand what your Veterinarian's thinking here. So, if the heart appeared large on x ray then the next step would be a BNP which is a blood test that checks the heart enzyme, and also a heart ultrasound called an echocardiogram. Those would be the next steps to determine what is wrong. Asthma will show up on the x-ray. Often times bronchitis will as well. You wouldn't need antibiotics with heart disease or asthma.
This isn't the kind of thing you want to be spit balling on with different treatments to see which one works.
I strongly urge you to get your cat to another Veterinarian, a feline only or a specialist. Unless of course I am not understanding something here.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I agree with the above. You can't stop with an x-ray. Depending on your cat's age and how she was positioned during the x-ray, it is common for the heart to look enlarged when it actually is not. And, if there wasn't anything specific mentioned about fluid in the chest cavity, furosemide is useless.

Second opinion or, even better as noted above, a visit with an internal med vet for the echocardiogram, and perhaps the BNP test, would be much more conclusive. Your vet should be able to provide you with a referral to an internal med/specialty group, as most require referrals before they will see a new patient.

Just for reference, Feeby's regular vet did some x-rays, thought she saw an enlarged heart and fluid in the chest cavity. A couple of more x-rays and an echocardiogram with an internal med vet determined she did not have either. If the internal med vet sees something that looks heart related, they can consult with a cardiologist. But they also have enough training to probably treat a pulmonary issue should this be related to her lungs.

 

[dbcatperson]

I have to call again by the vet tomorrow. My husband recently passed away and this year has been unbelievably bad. My husband took care of me and I have no income right now and so many more problems are happening since he died. And I have two sick cats to top this off. I’m just lost. If I remember right, I think the vet saw fluid by my cat’s lung and that’s why she thought bronchitis and back in May when she was sick, she suspected asthma back then. Her heart rate and the x-ray is why she thought heart disease. I believe she mentioned something with enlarged vessels too but like I said, I’m not thinking clearly and need to call her again tomorrow. I already gave my cat half of the water pill that I hope this doesn’t do more damage to her. I mixed it in tuna juice and she licked that right up.

If I had the money right now, i would look into other options. This is killing me that i can't do more right now. Hoping for ideas that i can manage for now.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I already gave my cat half of the water pill that I hope this doesn’t do more damage to her. I mixed it in tuna juice and she licked that right up.

One half a pill is not likely going to do too much, she could be a bit dehydrated from it if it is not needed, but that is about it. So, if you can encourage her to drink a bit more - that can't hurt things one way or the other. Perhaps, even some more tuna juice diluted in water?

Get a copy of the reports from your vet (they are yours for free) - maybe a friend or family member has another vet that would be willing to look them over as a favor? You just never know unless you ask around.

At a minimum, you can take a stopwatch and time her breaths per minute when she is at full rest/sleeping. One full rise and fall in the chest counts for one breath; check it at 15 seconds, and then again at 30 seconds and multiply the latter by 2. While sleeping the 'normal' rate is in the mid 20s. It will help, because if it close to normal, it could mean the activity level is the culprit - not saying that definitively narrows it down to the lungs, but it might help to tell the vet what you find.

 

[dbcatperson]

She's been laying on her side and i counted 17 in 30 seconds. seems like her heart with a hard kind of jerk to it. I'll have to try that with mixing in water with the tuna juice. I'll try calling by the vet tomorrow.
thank you.

 

[FeebysOwner]

She's been laying on her side and i counted 17 in 30 seconds. seems like her heart with a hard kind of jerk to it.

34 breaths per minute is not really excruciatingly high while at rest. Do it again when you know for sure she is actually sleeping, and again watch for how much jerking is involved. Just good info to share with the vet.