Feline DCM?

Sonopath Forum

This cat presented in CHF so was scanned while standing.  He is also somewhat fractious so I was unable to get perfectly lined up views; he is supposed to come back next week to finish out the study.  

My measures from these views give a %FS of 26% and a LVIDd:LVFWd of 5.5.  His atria are obviously enlarged and he has both pleural and pericardial effusion.

This cat presented in CHF so was scanned while standing.  He is also somewhat fractious so I was unable to get perfectly lined up views; he is supposed to come back next week to finish out the study.  

My measures from these views give a %FS of 26% and a LVIDd:LVFWd of 5.5.  His atria are obviously enlarged and he has both pleural and pericardial effusion.

Does this look like feline DCM?  I did see a small amount of mitral regurgitation but no SAM.  After initial stabilization, I started him on lasix, pimobendan, and plavix pending a rescan next week.  Does this seem reasonable given these clips?

Thanks,

Suzanne

 

Comments

EL

Yes see the wall thinning

Yes see the wall thinning excessive epss and bilateral atrial enlargement? Diff would be unclassified cmy but that typically has more thickened to at least 0.4-0.5 cm while these are visible thin…. Regardless what you call it need triple tx lasix, acei, pimo, plavix and taurine and avery guarded px.

EL

Yes see the wall thinning

Yes see the wall thinning excessive epss and bilateral atrial enlargement? Diff would be unclassified cmy but that typically has more thickened to at least 0.4-0.5 cm while these are visible thin…. Regardless what you call it need triple tx lasix, acei, pimo, plavix and taurine and avery guarded px.

marty

Any chance this cat’s on a

Any chance this cat’s on a raw diet (non-taurine supplemented)?  Rare breed like Abbysinian or Bengal?

marty

Any chance this cat’s on a

Any chance this cat’s on a raw diet (non-taurine supplemented)?  Rare breed like Abbysinian or Bengal?

EL

Abyssinians are number one

Abyssinians are number one cat for me with dcm. Good point on the raw diet thing marty

EL

Abyssinians are number one

Abyssinians are number one cat for me with dcm. Good point on the raw diet thing marty

marty

Yeah, almost every feline DCM

Yeah, almost every feline DCM case I’ve seen is an expensive designer breed…rarely a DSH.

marty

Yeah, almost every feline DCM

Yeah, almost every feline DCM case I’ve seen is an expensive designer breed…rarely a DSH.

smbrowndvm

This is a shelter cat but he

This is a shelter cat but he looks like a very large DSH or a Maine Coon.  He is thin at 13.2 pounds.  Strangely enough, I’ve only seen one other feline DCM case and it was definitely a run-of-the-mill gray tabby DSH.  That case was confirmed by a cardiologist.  We only see a few pure-bred cats.

I questioned the owner about the diet; he has been on a high quality commercial cat food for years.  I looked into taurine measurements but it just wasn’t feasible on July 4th weekend.  I will see about it early next week.  

He is hard to pill so I wanted to get the most important drugs in first.  We’ll see if owner is able to add in an ACE-inhibitor.  He may have abdominal pathology as well but was too unstable enough to scan his abdomen when he first presented.

Thanks,

Suzanne

 

smbrowndvm

This is a shelter cat but he

This is a shelter cat but he looks like a very large DSH or a Maine Coon.  He is thin at 13.2 pounds.  Strangely enough, I’ve only seen one other feline DCM case and it was definitely a run-of-the-mill gray tabby DSH.  That case was confirmed by a cardiologist.  We only see a few pure-bred cats.

I questioned the owner about the diet; he has been on a high quality commercial cat food for years.  I looked into taurine measurements but it just wasn’t feasible on July 4th weekend.  I will see about it early next week.  

He is hard to pill so I wanted to get the most important drugs in first.  We’ll see if owner is able to add in an ACE-inhibitor.  He may have abdominal pathology as well but was too unstable enough to scan his abdomen when he first presented.

Thanks,

Suzanne

 

smbrowndvm

This case went to a

This case went to a cardiologist and was diagnosed with severe restrictive cardiomyopathy.  Treatment is about the same and prognosis equally as bad.

Suzanne

 

smbrowndvm

This case went to a

This case went to a cardiologist and was diagnosed with severe restrictive cardiomyopathy.  Treatment is about the same and prognosis equally as bad.

Suzanne

 

EL

 
 
Yeh there is considerable

 
 

Yeh there is considerable discord when naming cardiomyopathy. A prominent ananymous cardiology speaker says “Just call them cardiomyopathy” if not an obvious HCM. Mainly because hcm you dont want to use pimobendan, as its still officially contraindicated in HCM, but is indicated in failure with UCM and RCM… but that all may change in a few years as well.

For semantics discussion is there any wording on the reasoning for calling it severe RCM vs unclassified or even DCM? I have seen this all over the map on wording what has everyone else’s experience been re RCM vs UCM?

Also remember once they get out of failure, if he gets out of failure the parameters change and you may want to put it in a different category….. i.e fs% increases and wall thickenesses change at times … seen this occur in some hcm types wiht failure … i.e unclassified in failure then out of failure look like HCM.

Cats are just weird can’t but them in a box LOL

 
EL

 
 
Yeh there is considerable

 
 

Yeh there is considerable discord when naming cardiomyopathy. A prominent ananymous cardiology speaker says “Just call them cardiomyopathy” if not an obvious HCM. Mainly because hcm you dont want to use pimobendan, as its still officially contraindicated in HCM, but is indicated in failure with UCM and RCM… but that all may change in a few years as well.

For semantics discussion is there any wording on the reasoning for calling it severe RCM vs unclassified or even DCM? I have seen this all over the map on wording what has everyone else’s experience been re RCM vs UCM?

Also remember once they get out of failure, if he gets out of failure the parameters change and you may want to put it in a different category….. i.e fs% increases and wall thickenesses change at times … seen this occur in some hcm types wiht failure … i.e unclassified in failure then out of failure look like HCM.

Cats are just weird can’t but them in a box LOL

 
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