Why did my cat's heart failure progress so fast? Was it my fault?

I'm so sorry to hear of your cat's passing. Heart failure is very common in older kitties. When the heart isn't pumping efficiently and/or when a clot moves to other areas of the body, the brain doesn't get the oxygen it needs. This causes disorientation and is likely why your cat was meowing loudly on the way to the vet. I doubt he was in any pain. And you did the right thing by taking him to a vet immediately. My thoughts are with you during this difficult time.

I am sorry you didn't have much useful explanation of your pets condition. These results are indeed unfavorable. So your pet Amelle has congestive heart failure, kidney insufficiency (the kidney isn't functioning properly) and liver enlargement (a sequela of the heart failure). So when a pet goes into heart failure that means that there is a defect in the heart that has overcome what the heart can correct for. The heart is unable to pump blood efficiently to the rest of the body, leaving fluid to build up in the lungs and also to lead to congestion in the liver. The pet will also have a low blood pressure, because again the heart can't pump effectively, leading to poor perfusion through the kidneys and subsequent kidney dysfunction as well. SO basically your pet Amelle has heart failure and multi-organ failures occurring as a result of the heart. You can try heart medication and diuretics, along with fluid therapy for few days to help the kidneys hopefully return to normal function. The fact that the CREA and PHOS levels are normal means the kidneys have a chance to correct themselves if they get proper perfusion. The liver congestion should improve if the heart improves, however the medications can only do so much to help manage heart failure. We will essentially be buying Amelle more time with an incurable disease process. That is why we call this type of treatment, heart failure management and not cure. It is worth a shot, especially if she is eating well and still has a will to survive. I wish you all the best in getting Amelle to a more stable state. Best wishes moving forward with her care. Take care. Here is a website link on heart failure meds for more information. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A

Hello and I am so sorry to hear about the passing of your kitty. It is so heart breaking to lose them. Without an autopsy, one can't be certain, but most often in a cat without any other clinical signs, it's usually a bad heart that will cause sudden death. One of the most most common heart diseases in cats is called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. It often has no symptoms. It is often not detectable on a physical exam. Sometimes there will be fluid in the lungs from congestion in the lungs that can leak out after passing. I hope this helps to provide some closure and with time, I hope your heart heals. My condolences, Dr. Elizabeth

I am so terribly sorry for your loss of Moo. It is very unlikely that the accident was at all related to her heart disease which eventually lead to heart failure and her passing. The enlarged heart the doctor diagnosed her with indicated a chronic long term condition that would almost certainly would have exsisted before the accident. Again my deepest condolences on your loss. Please feel free to ask any further questions you may have. We are here to support you

I'm so sorry to hear about Sylvester and your loss. It sounds like you did everything you could for him and he was likely in renal failure. Sometimes this is treatable, other times the kidneys do not recover and cats may need dialysis or even a renal transplant. It sounds like you did everything right by him but his condition was too severe.

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach. It sounds as though Nova may have been dealing with some infection or systemic disease. It is difficult to say for sure but if it was progressed too far, there probably was not much you could have done. If caught early on, then maybe something could have been done. Viral infections such as feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus can cause chronic infections and can lead to death in some cats. She could have any one of these infectious diseases and there is no treatment for either disease. I am sorry for your loss but try not to blame yourself. If she had something untreatable, there is not much you could have done. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am so very sorry for your loss. It sounds like your cat was very ill and really took a turn for the worse suddenly. It is really quite hard to say whether or not it was too late on this one. Cats are very stoic creatures and sometimes it is not easy to pick up on signs of illness or these signs may not be easily noticed. If it was FIP (feline infectious peritonitis), cats with this disease can become sick very quickly and typically will not make it past a week after diagnosis. The presence of a tumor can have vague signs but can end rapidly depending on what time of tumor so it can be hard to say for sure. It sounds like you did everything you could for him at the time. Sometimes things do worsen and progress rapidly despite all efforts. You certainly did the right thing to bring him into a veterinarian. Again, I am so sorry for your loss.