Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there. I'm sorry to bother you again. I've written to you in the past in regards to my cat Sola, who was diagnosed with moderate lymphoplasmacytic IBD and also has ASD in his heart. Thankfully all those problems are under control, but now he has another problem and I'm interested in your advice.

After Sola was diagnosed with ASD in February of 2007, he went in for a recheck in July and the veterinarian said that he had yet another defect. She said it was a mitral valve deficiency in his left atrium. She wasn't too concerned but thought that we should check it again in a few months. So, he just went in today for a recheck and it has gotten bigger yet. She said it's not to the point that he needs to be on medication and to check it again in 4 months, but it's almost been a year since my other cat (Sola's sister) suffered and died from a heart attack (and she showed no symptoms of cardiomyopathy) so I'm still quite cautious. Is there anything you'd recommend I do for Sola at this point or just wait another 4 months and see how his heart is then?

By the way, Sola was taking 1ml of budesonide for his IBD, but I've now weaned him down to .25mls and hopefully soon he'll be off it completely.

Thanks so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Lisa

Give Sola CoQ10, 30mg in his food twice a day, and let me know what his heart shows at recheck in 4 months.

what is CoQ10 30 and where can i get it??

This is available in health food stores. It is Coenzyme Q 10, in 30 milligram doses, given twice a day.

great! i'll try that. thanks. My biggest worry is that I"m going to come home and find him in cardiac arrest. My vet said not to worry about that, but since it happened to my other cat who had an enlarged heart I'm still quite skeptical. So you think a mitral valve deficiency is a big deal? No murmur was detected by the way.

While I've got you, my poor baby has had diarrhea since he came home from the vet Friday. He gets it every time they give him a sedative for the echocardiogram. I've tried the pumpkin you've recommended in the past but he won't eat it. Any other suggestions?

It sounds like your cat is very nervous and sensitive. You might try giving the cat a dose of homeopathic Arsenicum album 30c, both for the loose stool and for his general constitution. If the vet doesn't hear a heart murmur, the mitral valve insufficciency is not very severe.

How do you feel about antibiotics? Yesterday, my vet gave me metronitazol to help control Sola's diarrhea (since it's been 4 days and it's truly liquid diarrhea). I also requested to give subcutaneous fluids, so I'm picking up a bag today and I was planning on giving that to him tonight. Do you think the antibiotics are necessary if I get arsenicum album?

Just got the Arsenicum album 30c. Do I just put one tablet in his water once a day? And continuously or just until the diarrhea stops?

You can put one tablet in water, if you are sure the cat is drinking. If the cat is becoming dehydrated, whether drinking or not, it will need fluids under the skin.
Use the Arsenicum album until the diarhea stops.

I just took Sola in for a recheck on his mitral valve deficiency and the good news is that it is stable! Per your advice I have been giving him COQ10 30mg every day in his food. I'll continue as it seems to at least be preventing the disease from getting worse! thanks for the advice!

lisa

Hi there. I just wanted to thank you for your help with my cat Sola. The Arsenicum Album stopped his diarrhea and i didn't even need to give him the metronitazol his vet prescribed. I'm also giving him the COQ10 twice a day for his mitral valve and hopefully the next echocardiogram will show improvement.

I've emailed in the past in regards to Sola's IBD issues and i've tried the holistic route but it wasn't working so he went on budesonide. He was taking 1ml every day for about 3 months, then i cut him back to .5ml every day for 3 months and now I'm trying to wean him completely off of it since his abdominal ultrasound showed improvement last week. My vet would like him to stay on the budesonide, but I just worry about the long term side effects of steroids. If his IBD seems under control without the budesonide, do you think this is safe to keep him off?

thanks again for all your help!

Lisa