Happy Cat Family

Gracie just passed.... at 3:48 am.... I am just coming back from the ER vet....
She had a strange attack tonight after going to the litterbox... It was not trying to breathe.... This was her heart that was too weak I think... She would start jumping/jerking her legs at each heart beat... I calmed her down in a few minutes... She got better and moved to the corner.... She then screamed a couple of times - that's when I ran with her to the ER vet that's only a couple of blocks away.... I don't think I even had my seatbelts on... But it was too late, they entubated her, but they said she was pretty much gone on arrival...
I just feel awful.... I feel she suffered so much for nothing.... And in the end, she died in the ER room, away from her mommy...
I love you Gracie.... I am so sorry..... I will never, Ever forget you sweet girl.... You will be loved forever.....

Hi Friends meowmy here.... Again, good news and not so good news...
As of today, she is considered stable :clap:
The weakness on her hind-legs can be caused by dehydration, but it is not likely, as she was not on diuretics for long enough - this is most likely due to the heart not pumping enough blood, and she is simply too weak. As the heart gets stronger again, she will feel better. If she was dehydrated, fluids is not a good idea on her case - but, I can mix her food with pedialyte to give her electrolytes back.
He wants me to syringe feed her a little, if it doesn't stress her too much - if it does, stop.
We are dropping the heart medication (Enalapril) to once a day to increase her appetite. Now that she is stable, she should be fine on that dosage - her appetite should increase in 24 hours.
She will continue on the diuretics 2x a day for at least another week, when we will try to bring her down to once a day - if she remains stable, that will be her dose for life. If she relapses, we will keep her at 2x a day.
The lowest dosages are better because of her liver.
Now that she is stable, she is going in for a follow up in 2 weeks.......
Hopefully she will continue to improve day by day.
Her breathing is great, and she has eaten some Ziwipeak this morning - not much, but some.
No poop as of yet......
No pee outside of the litterbox - she is back to using the box like a good girl! - those are the good news.... The not so good news are: her eating is lacking severely. I did try to syringe-feed her twice today - the first time was a little better... the second not so much. She is determined not to eat :( I am hoping by tomorrow her appetite is better, or else I am really at a loss here. I did get pedialyte, and I am mixing her food with it. She is not drinking water either.... I got as much food as I could into her, but again, not as much as needs it.... probably close.... She got very very stressed on both feedings.... On the first time she urinated all over me - that is a huge sign of fear. On the second, her breathing became very heavy, and she took a long time to recover. Not a full on attack, but still, not something that should be done with a cardiac kitty. If she doesn't show improvement by morning, I am getting stronger appetite stimulants tomorrow, as her vet is off Thursday.....
I am really really scared for her, and I am just hoping and praying her appetite gets better very soon....
She is very week still and anything gets her out of breath - things like going to the litterbox takes the wind out of her - she takes forever to recover from a simple potty trip. My girl is going through some rough times.... I just hope this is just temporary, and I can reward her with a wonderful life full of love once she recovers <3

There are great news, and not so great.... The great news is that the medicine is working - Yesterday she woke up fine today for the first time, and did not have any cough fit so far - it was the very first day cough free. She had a few minor episodes where she was gasping for air for a little while - not too bad in comparison with the previous days.... She definitely overdid jumping into the litterbox and out - and making too much effort to poop.
She is totally constipated, a side-effect of the Diuretic.......... and here are the bad news: all side effects of the diuretics:
Yesterday she went COMPLETELY off food and water. I am saying completely here. She was not eating even a little, she was not taking syringe feeding, not drinking water, nothing. This is awful for her liver :(
She had a BAD case of dry mouth.... she was not peeing as much as she should, not pooping at all - she tried and tried, but nothing would come out... If I tried to syringe feed her, in addition to the stress, that could be life-threatening, she would spit right out.
Her vet had mentioned the risk of a high dose of Lasix and lack of appetite - in checking the side effects, she showed all of the serious ones - of course, she needed a high dose, as not breathing is the most life-threatening condition she could possibly have.
Today I had a call with her V-E-T, Dr. E -He is really happy with her progress.... For now, the number 1 concern is the heart, 2 the liver, 3 thyroid.
So, we are lowering the Lasix dosage for 2x a day to see if her appetite perks up a little..... He said it should. If it doesn't we will give her stronger appetite stimulants.
It is ok to continue on miralax and add a bit of Vaseline on her food once in a while to help her poop.
After she is stable, in about 2 weeks, or if her appetite is better before, switch her back to the y/d diet - he absolutely does NOT want her on methimazole, as it will push her liver over the edge, risking complete liver failure.
So...... one day at a time, on the long road of recover - he said if she continues to respond well for the next 2 weeks, in the maintenance dose, she can have many years with a very good quality of life....
She did much better today, but did cough twice tonight.... I would not call it cough fits or cough episodes, as it was only a couple of coughs - literally, each time, and soon after I pilled her, so it might be just that the pill bothered her throat. She didn't run out of breath or anything, so that's good.
One thing that's concerning me a little, is that she is very weak on her hind legs - what comes to mind is the high doses of diuretic, and not drinking water yesterday might dehydrated her - she might have lost too much potassium, making her weak. That's the only thing I can make sense of.....
She is drinking water normally now, and the diuretic is lower - she is also eating better, so I believe that with time this will get better. I will call the vet tomorrow to make sure that is the case. I was able to feed her another meal of Ziwipeak, which is highly nutritionally packed, so even though she didn't eat a LOT of it, she ate a good amount today. Ziwi blends into a very creamy pate, making it easy for her to swallow.... If there is any texture in the food, she just licks the gravy out of it and spits it off - not enough energy to chew as of yet
She did pee twice out of the litterbox - once during the night, and once during the day, right in front of me. I then noticed the weakness on her legs, and made some stepping stools for her to go up on the box (it is not too tall, but it makes it easier for her to go up) - I cleaned the spot with an enzyme cleaner, and topped the box with cat attract litter. She used the box already, so I think she will be fine with this arrangement. I am not too concerned - I know a house smelling like pee sucks, but my biggest concern is making sure she is alright.... She is not happy not being able to make to the box, I am sure....
Anyways, hopefully tomorrow will be yet a better day..... and the day after a better one too.......
I love you little Gracie <3 _

Hello furriends, Meowmie here,
Thank you for the support, purrs and purrayers.... We certainly need them....
Gracie continues her fight... She is a brave little girl.... Mornings are tough on her though - her V-E-T explained that because they lay on one side for too long, fluid accumulates on that side of the lung.... causing them to cough/suffocate when trying to get up. But get up they must... Thankfully, this morning was not as bad as yesterday........ at least on the coughing department.... on the eating and energy department however, she took a step backwards. Gracie didn't want anything to do with food today - no treats, no food, no water, nothing. That complicates things ten-fold, since not only I can't medicate her, but she is also fighting liver disease, and stop eating is the last thing we want for her right now.
Her V-E-T was afraid of that happening as a side effect of too much Lasix (diuretic). It is one of those things - treat what is the most critical/urgent.... And breathing to us seemed to be vital, of course. But the liver is no small issue either :(
I am a firm believer in syringe feeding, and Gracie was syringe-fed for her liver issue as needed until being diagnosed with Congested Heart Failure. Now syringe feeding her can drive her into a cardiac arrest - not happening. I pilled her once today, but that is also risky business - not doing it again. Yesterday she had a minor heart attach because of a cough fit, and I am not risking that....
With a lot of juggling I managed to get all the medication into her....
I also took her in for a couple of hours of oxygen therapy - I think that helped quite a bit.
The day started on a bad note, but tonight the life is back on her eyes, she started eating again - juuuuunk food, but nonetheless, something!!, and I think she is doing better overall.
Now Hoping to have a good Sunday morning..... and day.....
It is very hard to watch one that you love so much gasp for air and not wonder if you are doing this for the right reasons..... I just want to give her the chance of a long and happy life, full of love and pamper.... But a quality life, not one of suffering.... And right now she is suffering, and watching that is just killing me.... :(
Vibes for my baby girl....

Hello furriends, Meowmie here....
It's been a long time, I know.... Sorry about that.... I am afraid I don't have good news to post this time :(
Our little girl Gracie is very sick, and needs all the vibes she can get...
All started a few weeks ago, when I went on a work trip and found out later when I got back that she had stopped eating.... When I got to the vet, her blood-work indicated Hepatic Lipidosis.... It also indicated other complications, probably caused by a side effect to Methimazole, her Hyperthyroid medicine - it appeared to have attacked her bone marrow; her immunity was quite low.
The decision was made to transition her to Hills y/d.
All was well, until that she developed a cough.... It was a pretty bad and persistent one.... I thought it was hairballs, because she went off her treats, due to her new diet....
Off to the vet we go again, one day before another trip, but the only x-ray they could get was inconclusive- they needed other views.
While in my trip, she crashed... :(
Her cough got very bad, and she wouldn't eat again - I put a call to Bugsy's vet, who is my go to in super complicated cases, and he instructed our petsitter to bring her in immediately.
She spent the day in the oxygen tank, and when she was feeling better, they ran the x-ray. Congested Heart Failure :(
There is fluid in her lungs and around her heart, her heart is enlarged, and one side of the wall thickened. There is something on her lung too- they can not tell at this point if it is a mass or thickened fluid.
Her liver, as we knew, is enlarged - this can be Hepatic lipidosis, liver failure (a side effect of methimazole), or it can be cancer.
She responded well at the vet's office to the diuretic, and by the end of the day she was doing much better....
I came home Wednesday night for a very sick kitty :( I never imagined she was going to be this sick....
Her vet thinks if this is the heart, she does have a good chance to have a great life for a long while, provided she responds well to the meds - we will see on the next 4-5 days.
In 2 weeks she should have made a lot of progress.... If she doesn't make this progress, she won't....
We had an incredibly difficult morning, and I hope we will never go through this again.... The afternoon and evening has been better so far, and I hope she continues to get better.
She has no energy, and is breathing with her mouth open.... She is very very tired..... But she does have light on her eyes, and is not lethargic by any means - just tired, as you can imagine, since she can't breathe well.
I will fight with her for as long as she wants to fight.... But I will not fight in vain.... Gracie comes first, and I love her too much to put her through suffering if she doesn't have a chance to live a happy life... For now, we fight....
Please furriends, send her all the prayers you can send.... she can use them all.....
Much love,
Meowmy -