My Molly is in Heart Failure (food, diet, licking, stress)
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Of the many things I take for heart conditions, Co-Q10 has received more universal credit for improvements from various MD's (including cardiologists) that have treated me for the past 15 years.
It can be used on dogs and cats - but satisfy your own questions/doubts with plenty of online (and elsewhere) research.
Good luck and May God Bless You all in your circumstances, Garden.
Molly still has not eaten by herself all day. I have been feeding her by hand. I have also been giving her 10cc of water every few hours, to keep her hydrated. She is lethargic and hasn't moved much from off my bed or from her favorite place on the love seat. She has run up the stairs a few times, but then she stops as though very tired.
Her heat beat sounds stronger and healthier. That I suppose is the result of the Lasix pulling the edema off from around her heart. Her RR has also been maintained in the 30's and low 40's, not too high, but still on the high side. Her HR has lowered as well, staying around 140.
Tomorrow we go take her for a sonogram. My husband is out right now, picking up supplements and a potassium supplement the Vet ordered. It's snowing like blazes here, so it will be quite some time before he makes it back home. We studied, researched for hours upon hours, and came to the conclusion of at least trying 2 homeopathic remedies to both strengthen her heart muscles and to tone her valves.
If we at least don't do this, this being our way as healers, and if the sonogram's results are really bad, and we decide to put her down without at least trying, we both would never be able to forgive ourselves. Everyone we have spoken to says the prognosis is not good.
YET.......Doctors told me I would be in a wheelchair and paralyzed. I am neither. SO, because she is young, and because she is healthy and loved, we are going to at least try. If these remedies and supplements plus probably Digitalis, do not work, Molly will be going to the angels.
This is the most excruciating position to be in. My love for my furkids couldn't be any less then for human kids. The tears, the physical grip on my heart, the feelings of nausea and wanting to pass out, and the feeling this is truly not happening.........no words......
Tomorrow we must stress out our baby. Please pray that Rescue Remedy and angels abound, keep our baby as calm as possible and this ultrasound is done quickly, efficiently, and correctly read so that we can get Molly back home ASAP.
GOE, I wish there was something I could say to help... but all I can say is I would do exactly what you are doing. I would research, research, research and then do what rings true to me and feels right. If you tried your best and Molly goes to the rainbow bridge, at least you can rest easy, knowing you tried everything possible. I think the hardest part is when we feel like.... what if I had tried this or that...
Sending you lots of hugs and I will be thinking of you tomorrow. Take good care.
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
Don't forget it's near Christmas time too. I believe that our prayers are stronger around Christmas than any other time of the year. you have both my AND my furry friend Buddy's prayers.
Think happy thoughts...Molly WILL get better I hope. We had a cat in almost full renal failure once. We saved him and he lived 4 glorious extra years with us. Your molly can do the same with her condition.
Look into her eyes as well. I read another post on here that basically said that cats can tell you things through their eyes. I don't know how it works, but it does.
Draconiator, YES, I have looked into Molly's eyes. And I know EXACTLY what you are saying for I understand the communication between cats and humans.....at least the little I do know, let me just say. There is so much more to learn......
But! At times, her eyes have held "secret little smiles" and I respond, "Hey, you, what aren't you telling Mommy that you know???" Her eyes are clear and the most gorgeous jade green, clear, healthy. Her entire body looks healthy, not one sick hair on her. She is NOT telling me it is time to go. But, this doesn't make it any easier, by a long shot.
Katz, everyone.........Yes, my hubs and I are doing everything we know to help heal Molly's heart. No, we don't have any guarantees, but as a healer, there are no guarantees. Both the healer and the heal-ee must both be in agreeance in order for healing to take place.......
Molly is stronger this morning. She is still wanting me to feed her, just like a baby, mind you, all curled up in my arms snuggled in one of my sweaters (tears), but she is eating more. I am keeping her really hydrated and she has begun drinking water on her own today as well. She has been down on the floor more today rather then curled up on my bed or love seat in the living room.
Signs are looking good. Faith. Faith. And more Faith. We will NOT listen to the Death Medicine rap, if we get any today, but we will only focus on LIFE and HEALTH. Maybe we are here to show these vets (again!!!) that there is another way to heal our precious animals. I don't know.
But this I do KNOW!!! Molly does not want to go yet. Her eyes are telling me that. And her thoughts as well......and yes, she is one of mine who communicates with me through her thoughts.......
Sending all of you love from Molly and her Mom and Dad.......and thank you so much for all the support. Right now my hubs is outside clearing 2.5 feet of snow that fell last night. We got socked in!!!
You are doing what you can. And I hope the results turn out for the best. I will be praying for you VERY hard. If I had any snow to kick around for you and yell at- I would. But here in Wichita it's been dry as a bone for weeks. Give Molly a scratch for me!
Molly, Mommy and Daddy are back from the ultrasound. Her official diagnosis is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy which is a condition of the heart characterized by a thickening of the main pumping chamber of the heart (the left ventricle). That means she is in left sided heart failure. Her heart chambers have become compressed, due to the thickening of the walls, making her heart work harder, and making it also harder for the chambers to fill and empty properly.
The prognosis is all over the place. Good, OK, bad. She could live for many healthy years, or she could throw a clot and die from 6 months from now.
I am looking at this from a LIFE prospective. We will take the very best care of Molly every single day until her last breath. That stands true for every one of my babies. As I said to the cardiologist, there are NO guarantees in life. All we can do is our very best and if that is not good enough for some people, not our problem.
Molly's treatment plan is as follows: She is presently on Lasix which the Vet decreased from 3 times a day to 2 times a day. He is putting her on aspirin, 1/4 of an 81mg tab, 2 times per week. He is also prescribing Atenolol, which helps with the pumping action of the heart.
In addition, Molly will stay on a regular raw diet and as discussed and agreed with the vet, with salt. This vet also told me to hold the Potassium, which I will.
With hours and hours of research, my husband and I chose two homeopathy remedies to start giving to Molly, one to strengthen and hopefully decrease the thickness and stiffness of her heart muscles. We also chose a remedy that will tone and strengthen her cardiac valves. In time, we hope we can decrease her "traditional" medications and just keep her on the homeopathy. If not, we will do what is BEST by Molly. This is all about Molly and HER quality of life, not ours.
Molly's heart sounds stronger and clearer today compared to 3 days ago. So the Lasix is working. Her breathing is unlabored also, and that is a relief. On the scale of 1-6, 6 being the worst, Molly's heart murmur is about a 2. (sigh of relief.....BIG one!)
My hubs is passed out on the couch right now from snowblowing and shoveling for hours this morning, and he is going to have to go out and do it all over again, because it looks like we gained at least another foot of snow. (and still snowing! ) He then has to go to a regular pharmacy (people one) to get the Atenolol filled, for this is actually a people's medication.
Overall plan is to keep Molly happy, loved, breathing effortlessly, fed nutritious foods, and to keep the stress to a minimum in this house, which at times is near impossible. We will keep to our normal rountine as much as possible, putting the dosing times for Molly's meds in with this routine.
I thank each and every one of you helping me get through this crisis. I feel stronger today, due to all the support and loving words sent my way. I am deeply grateful and very touched.
God bless all of you for helping Molly!!! (and me) (tears)
Garden, I've been clicking on this thread all morning waiting to hear how Molly is doing. Thanks for getting back to us so quickly.
Sounds like you have a real plan for Molly and a good diagnosis. That's half the battle. My prayers for all of you will continue.
On a MUCH lighter note... Will the scrip be filled as Molly _____? When the World Famous Murphy was put on meds I had to get them at the "people" pharmacy. His perscription bottles said "Murphy ___" and he had his own file. It always gave us a smile
Soooooooo glad to hear that!!!
Suzie is sending some more of her power strength for Molly's heart (Suzie I think will outlive all of us) and Bobby is sending his "always look on the bright side of life" attitude to Molly and you, and I will continue to include ya'll in my prayers, but a little more light-hearted and relaxed.
Bless you and Molly and your poor hubby and the rest of the feline gang!
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The verdict is in......
) He then has to go to a regular pharmacy (people one) to get the Atenolol filled, for this is actually a people's medication.
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