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| Lucie |
I am starting this blog as a way to document how she is progressing and so I have a reminder for when we get to the vets! I have also noticed when doing research on DCM that there are a lot of fact sheets, but not much in the way of people's experience - but I could be rubbish at researching!
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As a bit of background...
So Lucie is my 11 year old (soon to be 12) BLH (British Long Hair) moggie. I got her when she was 6 weeks old (yes, too young I know) many years ago. This was when I lived down in Wales so she was free (people wouldn't dream of paying money for a moggie) and when I went to collect her she was living, along with the rest of the cats, in an open fronted barn on a farm type property (but wasn't a working farm). She was part of a second litter the lady had had in 6 weeks (I had phoned about the first litter and all kittens had gone, these had just been born so I waited 6 weeks to collect). All the cats were fed from one large bowl and in-breeding was obviously rife amongst them.
When I collected Lucie, one of the litter had already died and she was the smallest. I had first pick, so obviously being me chose the sickest one. She was tiny! Took her home and booked her straight into the vets where she was seen the same day.
That was interesting! Poor Lucie had cat flu, an umbilical hernia, some sort of bacterial infection (she bled everytime she pooed), a twisted spine (we think due to inbreeding) and a break at the base of her tail (which had healed at an odd angle) - all at 6 weeks old. I don't think she would have made it to 8 weeks!
We were given antibiotics and off we went and (stupidly, but didnt think at the time) introduced her to my other cat, Tabitha.
I had got Tabitha the previous year and had just turned a year old. She was also a free to good home cat, a gorgeous tabby who had grown up in a house with children and was 10 weeks when I got her. She is your typical cat - she will let you know when she wants something and will come to you, you don't go to her! She still rules the roost all these years later (still beats the dog occasionally, just because she can).
So we introduce Tabitha to this tiny kitten. She hissed, swiped it and walked off in a sulk. That night poor Lucie was locked downstairs, whilst Tabitha was with us (didnt want to put her nose out of joint). The following day I fed them both, Tabitha still not impressed, and after they had eaten. Lucie started watching Tabitha. It would appear she didn't know how to clean herself properly (she wasn't litter trained either and had never been in a house before). She would watch Tabitha, then copy what she was doing.
From that moment on, everything changed and Tabitha took Lucie under her wing, teaching her how to use the litter tray, to cleaning, to how to hunt (Tabitha was a prolific hunter). They have been close ever since.
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Fast forward a few weeks and we had our first incident with Lucie. She had her jabs. No real problem with the first jab, but on the booster a few weeks later she reacted really badly and had to be rushed into the vets on a Sunday afternoon - 24th December! Cat flu had reared its head again. She had antibiotics once more and had to be regularly given water as she was so weak she couldn't drink herself. Christmas day was spent at my mum's, in a blanket being cared for. Obviously she pulled through but it was touch-and-go for a while.
Every six months or so she would get sick, for no reason, and would have a temperature. She would again go to the vets, have a jab, and get better. This went on for about 3 years. They did countless test (even for Feline aids) all of which were negative. Where they kept injecting her, the fur fell out and to this day it has never grown back.
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About 4 years ago she started getting an odd reaction at the start of the spring, coming out in wierd lumps and she would pull the fur out. This was treated by a steroid jab that cleared it up. For the first 2 years we only had to treat her at the start of the year. The third year she needed the jab twice. The fourth year (last year) she had a number of jabs that didnt work. By this point she was pretty bald and covered in scabs. We were at a new vets with the dog, who mentioned they had a dermatology specialist who comes there once a month, who was there that day, did we want to see her?
Although the appointment was £120, we figured if she could diagnose Lucie it would be worth it. We had tried everything to stop the overgrooming and nothing was working.
The vet took one look, diagnosed allergic dermatitis, and quite a severe case! Given the state of her, and that we couldn't really change her food (Lucie has been fed a number of meats over the years which then eliminates them from being a new food source), she was put straight onto Atopica.
We are now about 9 months on from when treatment started and the difference is amazing. It was expensive (insurance wouldnt cover it due to the type of policy we had) but worth every penny.
...My point to all this history is that unfortunately, given her birth surroundings and obvious inbreeding, Lucie has always been a sickly cat.
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So, we fast forward again to 6 weeks ago. Lucie appeared to be better, was eating and no longer over grooming. We planned to go to the cinema with friends and had bought the tickets (Rock of Ages!). Joe had gone upstairs to get his wallet and found Lucie collapsed on the bathroom floor. I picked her up (she threw up all over me), got her in cat carrier and raced to the vets. We phoned to let them know we were coming (it was 6.40pm and they close at 7pm) and called friends to cancel plans. On the way Lucie, who was struggling to breathe, threw up in the car and over me - again.
Once in the vets they rushed her through for x-rays. Given how quick this had happened (she had been fine earlier that day) and that her lungs were full of fluid they were convinced it was poisoning. She had some diuretics and was put on a drip. We then had to transfer her to the out of hours vets for overnight care. She went straight into an oxygen tank and they said when she was more stable, they would take bloods to try to determine the poison. I went home and searched the house and garden from top to bottom to see what she could have eaten (she will eat anything) but couldn't find anything. They didn't expect her to last the night.
In the morning when we collected her, she seemed a bit better. The blood tests showed nothing, so we went back to our normal vets. They had a cardiology specialist so, although the vet was still convinved it was some sort of poisoning, it was determined she would be taken to see the cardiology vet. If he thought it could be something else, they would do the tests. He took one look at her films and said heart disease! They did all the ECGs, blood tests etc. One hormone (cant remember which one), should normally be around 200 - Lucie's was 1200! Her heart was enlarged but only working at 30%! At the end of all the testing it was determined my poor little girl had cardiomyopathy. She was put on meds and we were told to bring her back in a months time.
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2 weeks ago she went back for her check up. Whilst there she had another ECG and they took some more blood. The stress of the blood test then pushed her back into heart failure and as were were still waiting to pay, the vets were able to rush her through and put her back into the oxygen tank.
It turns out that the meds she was on were just keeping her 'ticking over' and that the slightest bit of stress would once again push her into CHF (congestive heart failure). So her meds have been increased (to quite high doses) and she has a number of meds she has to take - 1/2 frusemide twice a day, 1/2 vetmedin twice a day, 1 x fortekor once a day and 1 x prilactone once a day! Any more and she will start rattling. We also need to do regular respiratory rates on her - last one I took was 38 breaths per minute - that's quite high :-(
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So that's the intro. As I said, this blog is to give a personal reminder of what's been happening for when we go to the vets and, just as importantly, for others who have had or are having similar experiences to read, comment, and hopefully add to the communal learning. Please do...
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