Serious illness is never expected

I've been following the dog health stories two of my blogging friends, Dr. Patty Khuly (Dolittler) and Therese (PetSitUSA), and their dog's cancer treatments lately. Dr Patty's dog, 10 year old Sophie, has a brainstem tumor and Therese's 7 year old dog Lydia has anal gland adenocarcinoma.

It's struck me how calm Patty and Terese have seemed while blogging about the extremely serious health issues their dogs are going through. I can imagine though that behind the scenes, they ponder life, death, and all that is in between and wonder why it should happen to them, knowing there are no answers to that particular question.

Yesterday, I started my own steps down that path with Barnes. Barnes as you might recall is my 13 year old neutered male cat who has kidney disease. He's been doing very well with his kidney issues as I've been able to manage it very well with food (discussed in my blog post Tips for Looking after Cat with Feline Kidney Disease).

But lately, he seems a little off, not himself in a way that only I seem to notice. He's a big cat - larger than a small dog - and an excellent weight for his size. We gave him his summer coat a month or so ago and when all the fluff was shaved off, I thought he looked even slimmer than he normally does but I put that down to the contrast between his real body and his fluff body - he's got a lot of fur!

But for some months now, he's seemed more needy and hungry all the time. And he's got so little body fat and no fur now, he's been hiding under the covers in our bed during the day as it's been a little colder than you'd expect this summer. In all other ways though, he's been great, going outside and wandering all over and being his handsome and gentlemanly self with the kids and Lily, our other cat.

But something continued to nag at me about his health so I took him to our vet yesterday evening and yes, there's something seriously wrong.

Barnes is now 11 lbs compared to the 15 lbs he was 4 months ago and he has a seriously loud heart murmur. My poor baby :(

So, X-rays were taken showing Barnes has an elongated heart (and we saw what we thought was the calcification in his right kidney he'd had from years back) and then we looked at the most likely options.

1. hyperthyroidism: an overactive thyroid gland (cardiomyopathy is a secondary condition for hyperthyroidism)
2. cardiomyopathy as the primary condition: a thickening of the heart

If I had to pick, I'd definitely want it to be option 1 hyperthyroidism, which is definitely manageable. There's an excellent article on Pet Education on hyperthyroidism if you'd like to read more. Barnes has all the signs (even with the average onset age of unlucky 13) and it seems we might have caught it early enough that hopefully we can get him back to abnormal with treatment.

Option 2 Cardiomyopathy by itself is more worrying as no-one knows what causes it and it only leads to bad things, including saddle thrombus (which is my nightmare after reading all the incredibly painful comments on my Saddle Thrombus blog series) and sudden death.

So we shall see what his blood work shows us today and go from there. Fingers, toes and paws crossed. I'm optimistic we can manage Barnes's health through this.

Pet parents go through situations like this all the time. I'm just sad that our time has to start now.

Comments

[Therese]

Oh Laura, I'm so sorry to hear about the health problems Barnes is having. I completely understand the 'something's just not right' feeling. I had that with Lydia a couple weeks before things started happening. It was something very subtle in the way Lydia acted, just like with Barnes.

You're so right when you say pet parents go through this all the time, but one never expects it when it does happen. There are all the 'why' and 'what if' questions that come up but those questions can't change the facts. I'm sorry your time has started now, too.

I'll hope for the best for Barnes and that you're able to get things under control.

[Lea]

We've got many fingers (and paws) crossed for you. We love you Barnes, and hope for the very best.

[Yvonne DiVita]

Laura, I am so sorry - and mad at myself for not knowing sooner. With a 14 year old cat and a 13 year old dog, (big dog) I am also aware of their changes, day to day.

Mine are healthy, so far, but getting thin - they seem to eat as much as ever but are thinner now. The cat is much the same...in mood and temperment, but the dog has definitely aged. Bless her heart, she's like a small child now - follows me everywhere I go and watches my every move.

I will send good thoughts your way that Barnes has the #1 issue, and not cardiomyopathy. What love these pets bring to us! If only we can protect them - and we can, with pet insurance.

Thank you so much for sharing all that you share.