By: DustinPosted on

lance-princess-large

Pictured above is Princess and Lancelot. We had to rush Lance to the vet tonight 🙁 For a month or so now he’s been pulling his hair out. This happened last year at this time, but he got over it. Not sure if it’s a food he’s allergic to or perhaps the dry winter air (we just turned on our humidifiers this week). Along with the ripping out of hair, he’s been making the hairball wheeze sound. I just assumed the two were related.

Well tonight he made the sound then went down, his breathing became rapid, he was gurgling and eventually coughed up fluid. We got him to the vet, where they realized it was his heart. Sure enough, his heart is enlarged, he has fluid all around it and he even may have punctured his diaphragm wheezing tonight with this attack. They said he probably suffers from what a lot of large male cats suffer from, some enlarged heart syndrome.

They gave him a shot to help expel the fluid from his lungs and he is in an oxygen tank where he’ll stay overnight. By time we left he was actually looking and doing much better. She’s going to call us in the morning to let us know how he is. We need to have a kitty cardiologist look at him to determine the best course of treatment (if it can be something that can be managed or not, probably kitty pills for the rest of his life I’m sure). That will be on Monday, though she said if something happens in between (something worsens) we might need to take him elsewhere to bee seen before Monday.

I of course am feeling loads guilty. I kept wondering if I should have taken him in before now because of what I thought was the hairball cough. Had I, we might have caught this before now 🙁 We have two other fairly big kitties I will be taking in ASAP to be tested and checked out. Basically the entire crew of animals has to go in at this point for yearly check-ups. Cha-Ching!

I am just hoping tomorrow morning brings good news. I will otherwise not be able to concentrate on what I need to be concentrating on. Though we won’t know the long term prognosis till Monday really. I’m at this moment praying this supposed big snowstorm heading our way in fact does hit hard on Tuesday so I have a work snow-day.

Categories: Fat Cats, Photo Blog

13 Replies to “Hospitalized Kitty :(”

  1. How can you feel guilty? Ok, easier said than done to say you have nothing to feel guilty about, but really, from all the blog postings I have read here, you are a fantastic loving caring pet parent. You took her in when you did because you had gone through it before, don’t second guess what was the right decision! Paws crossed for you that all turns out well!!

  4. so sorry to hear this! i had a male cat many years ago that had the enlarged heart and was sent home on pills. we took him to the vet after his cough just wouldn’t go away. i think we waited too long because he didn’t last long after we took him to the vet. he was placed on pills, i think twice a day. i hope they can do something for your kitty!

  6. So sorry to hear about this, Dustin. Sending Lancelot (and you and John of course) good thoughts. Hope you get a good report tomorrow.

  7. My dog and I are feeling your pain and pulling for you all! (We don’t post much but check you often.) And, most importantly, you have NOTHING to feel guilty about! You’re a great parent… things just happen. Breathe and believe.

  10. Buttercup and I are sending get well wishes to Lance. Dustin everyone who reads your blog knows how much you love and care for your animals. Don’t feel guilty.

  11. Thanks All 🙂 We got a call thismorning, he’s doing much better. We’ll probably be able to bring him home today, take him to see a different vet tomorrow who will determine what the long term prognosis will be

  12. I am glad to learn that Lancelot is doing better. Maybe you will get encouraging news when you take him to a diferent VET. Just say your prayers and give him lots of loving care.

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