Thank you so much Jenny. I am waiting for calls from the vet about the rutin and spironolactone. If they have to put him under for a tap, I'm not really sure he would survive anesthesia.....I'm just looking to try to provide him some comfort and reduce this fluid.
Stacy -----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of jbero tds.net Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 8:39 AM To: Stacey, Fluid buildup in the chest is common in heart failure. The quick and dirty thing to do is tap. There are always risks with this, including but not limited to, anesthesia complications, hemorrhage, and to me the most dreaded is flash pulmonary edema. This occurs if the fluid is removed to quickly. Vets are not trained like internists in human medicine so I would be concerned about this possibility. Other causes of pulmonary effusion (fluid in chest) include, FIP, pneumonia, lymphoma, other neoplasm. Given the HCM, I would favor heart failure. The diuretics are not a bad idead. We use it in human medicine, but works better for pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) than pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs), but is still used for this. You could certainly try the diuretc and if his condition does not improve within a day or two, or if his condition worsens, you could do a tap. If you only tap hiim, the fluid can easily reaccumulate Note of caution with diuretics - don't use in kidney failure. I would also give coenzymeQ to help with heart function. The concerning thing to me is the rapid heart rate as diuresing him couldl cause this to continue to increase. This could result in arrhythmia. I think that is a risk you need to take, however, Unless you want to get into things like beta-blockers to slow the heart down, Again you have to be careful as slowing the heart down could increase the heart failure symptoms. Do you know if his blood pressure is okay? If it were me, I'd probably start diuretcs immediately, add coQ, pet-tinic (just in case he's anemic which would make his heart work harder) and do a search on any other alternative supplements to help heart function in hcm cats. If the situation got worse, I would default to a tap. Other supplements - make sure there's taurine in the diet (do you feed homemade meals - taurine deficiency is associated with cardiomyopathy (usually though diliated) - 250-500 mg daily supplement - should see improvement in 2-3 weeks. Caritine supplement - more helfpul in dogs, but couldn't hurt, don't have the recommended dose for cats. found in beef more than chicken or turkey, also in dairy products - you could change to diet to high protein (don't use grocery story foods - they are high in grains, not protein) best would be raw diet - nature's variety or stella and chewy's otherwise dry orijen is good. Hawthorn - strengthens heart and acts as antiarrhythmic, enormous range of safe dosing recommended - 100mg/25 to 50 pounds of body weight twice daily., can get mild upset stomach in people and occasionally allergic reaction., generally believed safe. coenzyme Q - highly recommended - 30 mg every 24 to 48 hours. others - omega three fatty acods. dandelion leaves, burdock, maitake mushrooms, red clover. I would do these over conventional medicine, but it would help to have an alternative doc to guide you. Hope this helps. Jenny On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Stacy Zacher <stacy_zac...@yahoo.com>wrote: > > > > stacy_zac...@yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
