My cat has congestive heart failure 😿

[Carol Hedrick]

Hi, my name is Carol and I recently had a medical emergency with my 6 1/2 yr old cat, Baby. He was acting like he was having difficulty with urination and was going back and forth to the litter box every 5 to 10 minutes. I was afraid he may have a urinary blockage so I took him into the vet hospital that is open during the day. They couldn't find any sign of a blockage and gave him a shot for antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, plus a fluid injection under the skin to help hydrate him, then I took him home. A few hours later, he went into respiratory distress with panting and difficulty breathing in addition to coughing up a frothy substance. I was horrified and knew something was severely wrong with him so I rushed him to the that ER which was open during the night. By the time I got there, Baby was in critical condition as we ran down the hallway and got him immediately put on oxygen.

As I waited in the waiting room, I was crying and praying like crazy... the very thought of losing my precious Baby brought me to tears. I had raised him since he was only 4 days old and bottle fed him for weeks to help him survive. He was born feral and when I first saw his precious, tiny body, I knew immediately that I had to have him The doctor came out and informed me he had congestive heart failure and had almost died in the back room as they were treating him. He spent the night at the hospital and I picked him up the next morning.

Once home, he was so lethargic and listless, all he did was sleep and would get up on his feet maybe once a day. A friend helped me to medicate him daily. He stopped eating for 4 days straight To encourage him to eat, the doctor prescribed gel that I rub on the inside of his ears and it would absorb through the skin. It worked! On the 5th day he took his first bite of food and has been improving bit by bit everyday since, thank God!

As if that wasn't bad enough, the total amount of all the vet bills came to almost $4,000!!! I had to pay it, that was my baby and he met a heck of a lot more to me than money, so I put it on my card. I've opened a GoFundMe account in an effort to raise donors to help me pay this humongous bill. The link to my account is below.

I firmly believe that what you do for others will come back to you. Thank you and mMake Donation for Baby

May God bless those who reach out to help me in my time of distress. Carol & Baby

GoFundMe - click here

 

[Carol Hedrick]

Do you know what brought on the congestive heart failure? It was that subcutaneous shot that the other hospital had given to Baby because he was slightly dehydrated.

 

[mechi2]

So sorry about your cat's health problems and the financial strain it has put on you.

How do you know that the shot caused the heart failure? When my chihuahua was young she ended up in emergency and got a shot under her skin for hydration and she didn't have any negative effect from it.

Hoping your kitty recovers

 

[Carol Hedrick]

So sorry about your cat's health problems and the financial strain it has put on you.

How do you know that the shot caused the heart failure? When my chihuahua was young she ended up in emergency and got a shot under her skin for hydration and she didn't have any negative effect from it.

Hoping your kitty recovers

The second doctor at a different hospital told me that the subcutaneous shot under the skin was what sent him over the edge. She also told me that the majority of pets will have no reaction at all, however she thinks my cat had a slightly enlarged heart and the excess fluids triggered something.

 

[Carol Hedrick]

The second doctor at a different hospital told me that the subcutaneous shot under the skin was what sent him over the edge. She also told me that the majority of pets will have no reaction at all, however she thinks my cat had a slightly enlarged heart and the excess fluids triggered something.

Thank you for your kind words and concern.

 

[TTouch]

Sorry to hear of your medical worries/concerns with your cat.

The preferred solution to hydrate is normal saline, but other solutions, such as half-normal saline, glucose with saline or 5 percent glucose, can also be used, so I would be wary of anyone telling you saline which at its basic level is just water with salt added 'caused' or even agrivated a medical issue by giving it subcutaneous which enables the fluid is absorbed very slowly over a 24 hours period.... more likely lack of hydration would agrivate the heart.

With human nature we humans have a basic NEED to understand why something happens and what 'caused' it ..... blaming others or something can make it easier for us to accept ( and we all do it) However if your cat has CHF that means your cat could have been born with a weak heart and heart disease has developed since.

 

[Carol Hedrick]

Sorry to hear of your medical worries/concerns with your cat.

The preferred solution to hydrate is normal saline, but other solutions, such as half-normal saline, glucose with saline or 5 percent glucose, can also be used, so I would be wary of anyone telling you saline which at its basic level is just water with salt added 'caused' or even agrivated a medical issue by giving it subcutaneous which enables the fluid is absorbed very slowly over a 24 hours period.... more likely lack of hydration would agrivate the heart.

With human nature we humans have a basic NEED to understand why something happens and what 'caused' it ..... blaming others or something can make it easier for us to accept ( and we all do it) However if your cat has CHF that means your cat could have been born with a weak heart and heart disease has developed since.

Thank you so much for your insightful comment it has enlightened me a bit. During the x-rays, they did discover that Baby had an enlarged heart. It must have been something they did because he went into respiratory distress within a few hours of having those injections. One injection was an antibiotic and the other injection was and anti-inflammatory shot, plus they gave him the subcutaneous fluids. Any more thoughts on it? Thanks again for your input.

 

[TTouch]

My heart goes out to you as all you want is for your beloved cat to be fit/well, now all you can do is trust that the vets do their best and to read up on CHF in cats so you are aware of what can be done and so that you have some understanding and feel more confident to ask questions and/or more confidently challenge what the Vets say

 

[Carol Hedrick]

My heart goes out to you as all you want is for your beloved cat to be fit/well, now all you can do is trust that the vets do their best and to read up on CHF in cats so you are aware of what can be done and so that you have some understanding and feel more confident to ask questions and/or more confidently challenge what the Vets say

I was wondering if Baby went into anaphylactic shock after receiving those injections at the first hospital? What do you think? Some of the symptoms are the same as with congestive heart failure.

 

[TTouch]

I was wondering if Baby went into anaphylactic shock after receiving those injections at the first hospital? What do you think? Some of the symptoms are the same as with congestive heart failure.

I have no idea, I wasn't there nor am I a Vet, however it is something you can ask your Vet about