Recent Updates with Our Cats

From Facebook posts:

Cats are fine so far this summer. Dealing with the latest heat by staying in the basement, even when we run fans and portable AC units upstairs.  They are getting rabies, distempers shots; surviving dental surgery (Baby and Elizabeth); and Elizabeth, Baby, and soon Katharine, have/will have visits to the cardio for checkups.

7/28/16

Watching the political party conventions makes me wish Feline HCM could be a platform issue: more funding for helping families and cats in need!

Elizabeth had her bad tooth (resorption lesion) removed yesterday and got through just fine. (Her cardio echo from two weeks ago showed she has no heart disease.) She came home, bounced around; and ate, and ate, and ate...I don't think she's stopped yet. All other teeth looked good they said.

7/21/16

Why I don't like "natural" or homeopathic choices that replace meds for your HCM cat: when it comes to most meds, you can't get enough of a "natural" choice down your cat to equal the effect of a small pill. Case in point (and I've posted about this in the last few years): Dandelions as a diuretic. You can't get enough tea down a cat to equal lasix. This site suggests to equal 40mg of lasix, drink 4 cups of tea-that's 32oz of fluid or 950ml. Most cats take 20mg or more of lasix a day. Myrna was on 100mg in the last year. So, you can see how difficult it would be to get 16oz-64oz of fluid down a cat a day. It's still a diuretic, will still tax the kidneys, will still cause dehydration. It's not necessarily gentler. Both will promote drinking, and getting rid of salt and fluid.

7/7/16

I never want to say that Myrna's passing made my life easier. That's not what I think when I think of her. I remember where she would sit, curl up, how she slept, and her routines. And I miss all of them. I miss the endless drugs, drug preps; breathing monitoring; the litter box/treat time every 2-3 hrs. Etc. But I did allow myself this weekend to think that I was relieved not to have put her through a three plus day of bombardment from July 4 weekend fireworks which would have and always did stress her out and gave me reason to worry. Those hours were difficult to mitigate but she did get through them, sometimes with treats; in the last couple of years with extra Valium. (For her!)

Baby

Katharine Hepburn

Elizabeth Taylor

Bette Davis

Jimmy Stewart

Annual Heat Advisory-Keep HCM COOL!

It's that time of year when I advise you to keep your HCM cat as cool and as humid free as possible (or warm if it's the winter season where you are.) Run fans, dehumidifiers, and AC (portable or other types) as often as you can. Make sure filters and water buckets are clean and free of mold and mildew (each item has different needs.) Run the AC at about 72 degrees: too cold or too hot and the cat may have a difficult time breathing, and remaining comfortable. You don't want to create breathing issues and you don't want to cause stress reactions in the body to heat and humidity. Good luck!

Baby It's Hot Outside-Heat, Humidity, Storms, and Reasons and Means to Keep HCM Cats Cool

Not too hot, not too cold. HCM cats must be just right.

It's hot weather season again. Need to make sure our HCM cats are kept cool but not too cold. HCM cats can't handle heat and humidity. In general, the heart is too weak to handle the stress of changes in weather-fighting to keep a body cool or warm; and breathing will become difficult-as it does for humans-in humidity. Opening windows is fine as long as hot or humid air is not coming in. Use fans or AC units. Also pull shades. Dark rooms are often cooler. We don't have AC so we are using a series of window fans and portable and window AC units to keep the house cool and air moving. Myrna and the other cats at this time of the year also live under the furniture and in the shade in the rooms. Our oldest, Baby, has spent most of the last three days in the basement where it feels about 20 degrees cooler. If only I could get Myrna to live in the basement but no, she prefers to be somewhat more social.

If you've been through storms this week, or will be, good luck handling your HCM cat. If possible, close windows and shades, so the cat doesn't see the lightening; maybe move the cat to the basement or first floor where the storm may not be heard as much as upstairs; if possible, distract the cat with treats if the storm is very loud. If a huge storm or tornado is in the area, you might want to place the cat in the cat carrier. It's a contained, controlled environment that you can cover or place in a closet to not only keep the cat safe but try to keep it calm.

 

Myrna (left) and her much larger and older sibling Cooper (not related by blood) doing what they love at night-looking out at bugs and wildlife.