Keep an HCM Cat Calm During Storms

Storms blew through the area last night and we had tornado warnings but unlike Illinois, we had no tornadoes. We put Myrna in a crate, tucked her in the basement under the table that is covered by a long old rug (one huge cat tent and scratching post for the cats) and we sat with her while the others were also with us in the basement, sitting around being afraid, until it blew over. It kept her calm. In the past, we simply went to the basement and gave them treats to distract them. But now that she's further along in her disease, I wanted to do something more to keep her calm. She's always so calm in the crate in the car so I wondered if this would indeed work. And it did.

Vet Visit Today Leads to Increased Breathing Rate

Myrna saw the vet again for blood and urine recheck, not only because she has a cardio appt. next week but because back in Feb. lasix dose was increased from 1/4 TID to 1/4 QID (4x day). While there today, her breathing rate shot up from a normal at home of around 32 to almost 80. She looked calm enough, didn't look stressed but when they took her in back to do the draws, they noticed the breathing. The vet took a listen, thought she heard sounds, did xrays, thought she might have congestion. They emailed films to cardiologist and we went home. Back home, Myrna was active-used the litter box, ate lunch, walked around, checked on the birds outside the window, and after an hour and a half, settled down for a nap at which point I could finally check her breathing. It was around 40. Meanwhile, the cardiologist called and said she thought the films looked fine but we discussed keeping an eye on Myrna and giving extra lasix if needed. We've come to the conclusion that since her heart size has increased-which we learned in Jan.-she is not able to handle formerly normal stressors such as travel to the vet and noise-I believe the congestion she had in Jan. and Feb was due to the use of the kitchen stand mixer which is very loud. So, this means better management of all stressors-noise, travel, visitors, work around the house, and temperatures (keeping her warm isn't a problem but balancing the heat and the cold AC in summer will be.) While we can hold off doing blood and urine draws on a regular basis, trips to either vet can't always be avoided. We'll need to come up with solutions to keep her calm during the trip and once she arrives.

We did not give extra lasix yet.  Unfortunately, this is a normal progression of the disease, where stress of any sort can set off CHF.