Symptoms of HCM?

[sphynxluvor]

How do you know if your kitty has HCM or not? Are there certain symptoms or are people taking thier cats in for annual ECG's?

 

[ZiggyStardust]

Our vet heard a murmur and then we took Ash to have an echo were he was diagnosed with HOCM. Otherwise he has no symptoms. Often times you don't know your cat has it until they develop CHF (congestive heart failure) - those are usually the first symptoms you see. Those symptoms can include difficulty breathing, increased breath rate, hind leg paralysis, and sudden death. Hearing a murmur and having an echo to diagnose, or having regular scans, is usually the way of catching HCM/HOCM before it becomes CHF. Is your kitty having some problems?

 

[ilovedirt]

Amen-Ra has CHF. He was symptom free until this past December when I brought him to emergency vet because he was making a dry coughing noise one night, then had raspy breathing the next day. He's now on Plavix, Vetmedin, Furosemide, Spironolatone, and Enacard and is stable. I'm making sure he gets his meds regularly and gets to the cardiologist as he needs (we're going tomorrow)....my main worry is trying to get his weight back up a bit, he's lost a lot.

Hope your kitty is ok

 

[Sphynx Happy]

I found this great article about HCM

Feline Disease Profile - Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy