I just got home from the vet.
The whole drive down there, we sat in some of the worst LA traffic I’ve seen in years (at least it felt that way . . . my perception was obviously skewed by grief and worry) and Sketch howled and panted the entire way, so I scritched his little fang face, and told him how so many kitties and monkeys were pulling for him, and how we were getting closer to the doctor who would take care of him and help him feel better. The truthis, I was trying to convince myself more than him. By the time we got there, he was breathing so hard he wasn’t even holding his head up, and I was convinced that he was going to die before I could get him into the waiting room.
As soon as we walked in, a tech came over and put him into an oxygen cage to help him calm down and breathe, while Anne and I waited to talk with the doctor.
After a few tense minutes, the vet came in, and told us that Sketch has congestive heart failure, and that’s why his lungs are filling up with fluid. He said that this is a common condition in Maine Coon cats, and he’s treated it many times before. It was very reassuring to hear so much confidence from the vet. At least now we have an idea of how to proceed.
We still don’t know what brought it on, and until we perform the cardiac ultrasound, we won’t know for sure, or how to treat it. The vet told us that he can drain Sketch’s lungs with Lasix, and when Sketch calms down, he’ll be able to do the ultrasound. He’s pretty sure it’s hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, though, and he told us that he just saw a kitty this morning who he treated a year ago, who looked just like Sketch when she came in. I don’t want to have false hope, but Anne keeps saying, “I just don’t think it’s Sketch’s time to go,” and I desperately want to believe her.
The really sad news is that, even after his lungs are cleared out, we won’t ever be able to reverse the damage to his heart, and he will eventually die from it. If we *are* able to drain his lungs and figure out what’s wrong with his heart, he should have good quality of life, though he’ll spend the rest of it on medication.
The really encouraging news is that the vet knew right away what was wrong, and how to get Sketch comfortable and stabilized. He told us that once a cat is stabilized from this sort of thing, it’s very rare for them to worsen or die. So we’re hopeful, but prepared for the worst, as well.
You know that saying, “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best”? When you’re actually doing it, it’s a lot harder than it sounds.
The doctor wants to take things slowly with Sketch, so he doesn’t stress him out and make things worse, so right now we’re just focused on making him comfortable and getting his lungs clear. Once that’s done, we’ll do the ultrasound, and then we’ll get a better picture of what comes next. I doubt we’ll know anything for at least 24 hours.
I want to thank everyone who has kept Anne, me, and Sketch in your thoughts. Your comments and e-mails have meant a great deal to us (even Sketch, who only reads at a first grade level.)
I’ll post more when I know more.
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wil, i’m wishing the best for sketch, anne and you. i hope everything works out. i know how much i love my cats, and i feel for you. best of luck.
Still sending lots of good mojo from myself, Cody, and Midnight (both cats).
Midnight is a very special cat. I found him as a stray almost two years ago. He was tiny and wouldn’t let anyone get near him. After a few months of feeding him, he finally moved in. He’s now a real lap cat and won’t let me out of his sight.
I have three cats myself: Chicken, Gremlin, and Monkey. We’re all sending our good thoughts to Sketch and you and Anne. I’m so glad that the vet was able to diagnose your boy so quickly. I don’t know what I’d do without my boys, so I can definitely sympathize. Take care and *ooooooommmmm* good thoughts to Sketch!
Oh good! I’m so glad to hear that his condition is treatable. I think he’ll live a good long time. I’ll keep sending out the good strong-heart mojo to Sketch.
Wil,
I am glad to know Sketch is doing fine with everything that is going on right now. Glad also to know he’s resting comfortably and is in very good care with the vet.
You’re all in my heart and prayers. Keeping my fingers crossed for you here in Arizona 🙂
~April (ArizonaGeekette)
I wish all the best for Sketch. We have a Maine Coon as well, and he is such a beautiful, gentle and loving creature (most of the time). Picture here: Ringo
Hope everything works out and Sketch gets better! I know how hard it is, we found out last year that our cat is diabetic, now she has to have two insulin shots a day.
I completely understand what you are going through.
Back in 88′ a new kitten was allowed us to stay in waht became his house. Every winter we would play catch with snowballs… well he would bat them out of the air and smoosh them to smitherinees. He also became my shadow and my closest (and only) friend. In 99 I moved out, and took him with me. A few months later he started developing a uninary block. I didn’t know it at the time, I jsut knew he was very sick.
When I came to the vet with him cradled in my arm they knew exactly what was wrong, and it would cost $500 to treat him. I didn’t have the money, and I had to make the hardest decision in my life to let him go. As i left he looked me in the Eye, and I like to think we both knew it was goodbye.
Sketch is one lucky cat to have caring and loving humans like you Wil. Who would do anything to keep them around. Be rest assured, that I, Skeeters human, along with my departed best freind skeeter have you in our thoughts
Russ “Kinnison” Kludy
Souz-chef of the Army of dorkness
I just heard about sketch today. I am very happy to hear that you got incouraging news from the vet. Sketch will be in my thoughts and I will send all the best mojo I can.
I to have a cat that I would worry and do anything for. So I know where you are coming from. All the best.
Wil,
Sorry to hear that your fuzzy child isn’t feeling well but I am glad that things seem to be looking up for him! The entire fuzzy family here sends all their Cat Mojo up to Sketch from Moof, Foom, Oomf, and Clyde.. You can also add Siberian Husky Mojo to that from Blue, Karitza and Anastasia, Jack Russell Terrier Mojo (very very strong.. you’d know if you had one) from Achilles, and Doberman Mojo from Maximillian!
Hope you (as a pet owner i know how emotionally and physically draining it is when one of your kids gets sick) and your family get to feeling better soon!
Jeff
Sounds fun!
oh my gosh I am so sorry about your cat.
I am glad you guys know what is wrong and that the vet was able to provide some answers.
My prayers are with your cat. I really hope your cat will pull through.
*send more prayers to your kitty and the family*
Glad to read your cat is surviving.
Sorry to hear this Wil. Hope Sketch gets better soon, man.
Blessings on your family and pets, I know how much it would kill me if my cat Murphy had to go through this.
On a tangent note, I think your use of the word “scritch” kind of cements your stature in the annals of geekdom. I always thought there was only one breed of internet geek that used that term. =)
Pax,
Matthew
Kitty mojo/prayers/thoughts coming to your family and your precious kitty.
Dear Will,
I wish Sketch all the best. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is well known in cats, in part because humans get it too. Like, um, me!
Here is a very technical article on it: http://www.newmanveterinary.com/felhcm.html
and here is a link to the HCMA’s web site for people: http://www.4hcm.org
If Sketch responds to medication and the hypertrophy isn’t too thick, he has a good shot at being around for a while.
Best wishes,
S
continued mojo and all manner of good wishes being sent your way from me and my baby cat Dexter. its good to hear that the vet was helpful and confident – i know that helps. you just keep on keepin’ on, and here’s hoping Sketch will, too. -Jess
Here is some “orow” from down under!
Mark.
Wil,
Tonight when I go to bed and my kitties fight for space around me, I will tell them about Sketch. Myself, Nezumi, Shiro, Pip, and Nip will all be sending him good feline mojo.
Wil,
Your having a sad time with your pet. I hope everything is better very soon. Hang in there.
FG
Still MORE Kitty Mojo. It’s a little known fact that I’m a total cat person, and know exactly what you’re going through. Cats are people, no doubt about it. Best Wishes Fat Boy 🙂
I LOVE YOU SKETCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Poor kitty. Squeaker, Sprite, and Shania are all wishing for the best. I think the Farkers may even cease activity just to give Sketch a better chance 🙂
Wil:
I just found out about Sketch. Here’s hoping for the BEST! I more than anyone knows what it’s like. I’ve had two cats that were VERY sick. It’s not easy but there is always hope. I’m typing this while my cat, Blackie, sleeps by my leg. For about 2 years I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. Well, he DID recover and ten years later he’s doing great! There is always hope….and positive vibes. Sending much your way, Wil!
Good luck!
Scott
Wil:
I just found out about Sketch. Here’s hoping for the BEST! I more than anyone knows what it’s like. I’ve had two cats that were VERY sick. It’s not easy but there is always hope. I’m typing this while my cat, Blackie, sleeps by my leg. For about 2 years I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. Well, he DID recover and ten years later he’s doing great! There is always hope….and positive vibes. Sending much your way, Wil!
Good luck!
Scott
Hi Wil. I’m glad I found your blog! I just wanted to comment on your post. Sorry to hear about your cat. I had to put my cat that I’ve had for 18 years to sleep the other day. She was nearly 20 years old and died of severe renal failure. When she was about 12 she was dianosed with congestive heart failure and lived several years afterward. It gave her trouble on and off but she had a really good recovery from it.
Todd
Goodl luck with Sketch, Wil. We just lost a wonderful dog to the same problem, her name was Cricket, she was part pit bull and part dachshund I think.
My mom found that, for Cricket at least, a rolled up towel for her to lean against when she was lying down seemed to ease her breathing. I wrote about it on my LJ blog. My heart’s with you and Annie, just don’t let Sketch get too excited and she could have a decent quality of life for a while, I know the medication helped extend Cricket’s.
Wow that’s an amazing vet! I’m glad to hear that you know what’s wrong, now with medication Sketch can live a quality life. Charlie_The_Cat and I still have Sketch in our prayers. My cat Charlie is a domestic persian/siamese cat so he’s very vocal. He’s come along way from when I first got him at one years old. (he was abused by a male human)He’s my baby and I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s gonna be 15 soon. Just remember that we all are rooting for sketch to get better.
Morgan
my pyschic prediction: Sketch comes home from the vet, and settles back into the routine. But now, he’s the super-extra-deluxe-pasha-inkg and that furry bastid milks it for all its worth. He spends the last decade of his life lolling from cushion to cushion, his merest squeek bringing yet another serving of “meds” (which he now insists be wrapped in various types of sushi) As he sheds his mortal coil, every last drop of lovely life lived, he grins and says: what a fabulous, wonderful, love-filled ride. Can’t wait til they let me come back and do it with them again .
Anyone who has ever had to give their cats medicine knows that it requires kevlar-coated arms and a full face mask. For many of us, our cats are our companions and our kids. When mine get sick, I shift into uber-mommy mode and would do absolutely anything for them to get better.
I wish you and your family strength and peace.
How to give a cat a pill:
1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth
and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding
pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill
into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from
top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between
knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat’s throat vigorously.
7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep up the shattered figurines and vases and set to side for gluing later.
8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.
9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans. Drink one beer to take taste away. Apply
Band-Aid to spouse’s forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
10. Retrieve cat from neighbor’s shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in
cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head
showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon.
Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch
bottle of scotch. Pour shot; drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw T-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
12. Call Fire Department to retrieve the cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.
13. Tie the little kitty’s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash pill down.
14. Consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room. Sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.
15. Call Vet and make appointment to get him to
give the cat the pill!
Wil:
I just found out about Sketch. Here’s hoping for the BEST! I more than anyone knows what it’s like. I’ve had two cats that were VERY sick. It’s not easy but there is always hope. I’m typing this while my cat, Blackie, sleeps by my leg. For about 2 years I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. Well, he DID recover and ten years later he’s doing great! There is always hope….and positive vibes. Sending much your way, Wil!
Good luck!
Scott
Wil:
I just found out about Sketch. Here’s hoping for the BEST! I more than anyone knows what it’s like. I’ve had two cats that were VERY sick. It’s not easy but there is always hope. I’m typing this while my cat, Blackie, sleeps by my leg. For about 2 years I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. Well, he DID recover and ten years later he’s doing great! There is always hope….and positive vibes. Sending much your way, Wil!
Good luck!
Scott
Wil:
I just found out about Sketch. Here’s hoping for the BEST! I more than anyone knows what it’s like. I’ve had two cats that were VERY sick. It’s not easy but there is always hope. I’m typing this while my cat, Blackie, sleeps by my leg. For about 2 years I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it. Well, he DID recover and ten years later he’s doing great! There is always hope….and positive vibes. Sending much your way, Wil!
Good luck!
Scott
*kitty mojo being sent*
Hugs, Wil…I know what you’re going through. My cat Pepper had a short but painful bout with cancer last year, and we had to put her down. My hopes is that Sketch makes a very full recovery…my mom’s cat, Midnight, had a “life-threatening” illness at age ten, and he lived twice that long…so keep up hope.
OK, you win…
I really, really wanted to dislike you because of what the writers had done with the character of Wesley Crusher, but I am able to separate the actor from the character (and yes, you did your best with what you were given…).
I’m an expatriate in France right now, and I moved heaven and earth to make sure I could bring my best friend, my cat Shadow, with me.
Now, you’re discovering health problems with one of your best friends, your cat Sketch.
I have no idea how the universe really works (despite a successful career as a Physicist), but if it has any justice at all, then I hope all the good thoughts towards your cat help. I’m sending them along with all the others here.
Regardless of all the jokes, cats are great friends, and having lost my best friend (a cat) a decade ago, I can understand your feelings.
All the best to Sketch.
Hi Wil,
I have to leave for work but I just read about Sketch. Your kitty and your whole family are in my thoughts and prayers. I know what it’s like to lose an animal you love. I’m sending all the mojo I have to give that you don’t have to deal with that. At least, not so soon.
Hugs!
This hits very close to home Wil. Our sweet 17 year old dog Ginger went into CHF and couldnt be saved. Our furry family sends major mojo Sketch’s way. I know how difficult it is but, please try and be sensitive to what Sketch is telling you. If he’s telling you he’s not having any fun, try not to be selfish, prolonging his suffering. We wish many, many more happy and healthy days for Sketch!!
Obviously, Wil, our thoughts are with Sketch, you, and your family. Best wishes for his speedy recovery and continued good health. Besides, anyone with a soft spot for cats can’t be all bad, right? 🙂
I’m so glad that Sketch will be okay. I have a maine coon named Willie and he is my baby. Often referred to as my fourth child, I don’t know what I will do when his time comes. I’ve had him since I rescued him waying little more than a half a pound, starving to death and maybe a month old, in the spring of 1997.
Take care of yourself and of Sketch.
P.S. I never knew about the congestive heart failure propensity in maine coons. I’ll be keeping a close eye on my baby’s health from now on.
When he pulls through, though, he should get quite a bit of XP from this. If it bumps him up a significant level, he should put the point he gets for his stats towards his CON.
Lots of good thoughts going Sketch’s way.
Hey Wil, I know how you must be feeling.
My cat Milo was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy about two years ago. At first it was terrifying to see my cat gasping for air, but his excellent vet put him on a protocol that worked quickly. It was the exact same prescription that your vet has given Sketch. The Lasix was very helpful in keeping Milo calm and comfortable, considering the advanced stage of the disease. He continued to live a healthy, happy life. His last few weeks were spent being VERY spoiled and he got oodles of attention and love.
Sketch’s situation sounds so much like Milo’s. It sounds like he’s got the best care possible and definitely the best parents. With good care and lots of love, he’ll be a very happy kitty, and that’s what counts. Lots of positive thoughts to your family and especially to Sketch.
I’m a huge cat lover myself with two at home (and two pooches). I really feel for you. I’ve never had to go through a pet passing away and I don’t look forward to it. Tell Sketch to hang in there, I know he’ll make it!
Wil, Anne, & Sketch,
Hang in there! =) I know it’s tough, but I agree with Anne. I know it’s tough, and it may get a bit tougher. I lost my eldest cat to cancer (after a long battle) this past summer, and this past Christmas we had a “crisis” with Loki and a urinary crystal problem. (I never want to hear him scream again – neither do the vets) The point of me mentioning this is that he made it – even when we thought he might not (near kidney failure). So hang in there – Sketch is one special kitty and he’s much loved. That means a lot and goes further than you realise. =) We’ll be thinking of you!
Kiri & the paws
(Dante, Loki, & Sacha “the terror of the northwest”)
It definetly sounds like Sketch will pull through to give people like me (allergic to cats, but love them anyway) something to sneeze about. I understand how hard it is to watch someone you love suffering though, so my thoughts are with you.
Wil….
Lots of positive thoughts and even a prayer or two coming Sketch’s way. I’m a dog and cat person and I don’t know what I would do without my beautiful furkid-kitty, Jean-Luc. (Yes, he’s named after you-know-who, but not for the reason you might think…another story for another day.) The beautiful thing about dogs and cats is that they KNOW their humans love them. Please give him a warm snuggle for me.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is very treatable and survivable – a friend of mine has a Russian Blue who was just diagnosed with the same condition a while ago during a routine checkup, and she’s just as fat and sassy as ever. Best of wishes for you, Sketch, and the rest of your family.
I’ve got four cats; Scratchy, Titan, Orion and Mousie (who is currently not alive, but three seems like a wrong number and he’s still a big part of my heart) and they would probably be wishing you and Sketch the best of luck and health and all that, except for the fact they are preoccupied with licking their bottoms, fighting each other for fun and (in the case of Mousie) being a fluffly little angel.
So on behalf of myself and my pussos, and (since they’re preoccupied with interbreeding and afraid of bright things like monitors, candles, the sun, etc…) from all the people of Carlisle in England:
GOOD LUCK AND LONG HEALTH TO YOU BOTH! 🙂
Les
Sketch, I hope you feel better soon, puddy.