Cardiomyopathy

My cat was just diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Will this significantly change the quality of his life? How long can he live with it? Will he be more susceptible to other diseases? If anyone can answer these for me I will be forever grateful. --iVillager hahoward

mikaj3645 says:
My Frankie was diagnosed with severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy four years ago. Fortunately, I live near Tufts Veterinary School, and he was treated by a specialist there. He's on several meds -- vasotec, diltiazem and lasix, as well as a quarter of an ascriptin three times weekly.

With the meds, he has managed very well, and as for quality of life, he lives like a little king. He's active, his appetite is good, and his EKGs show little progression of the disease. I know this won't go on forever, but for now, he's doing well.

My advice is: Read anything up to date on the disease. Catnip (Tufts) and Catwatch (Cornell) are two very good publications. A few years ago, cats with the disease were only given six months to live. Now, when I ask Frankie's cardiologist how long, he says, "We don't know." Frankie was so sick he wasn't expected to live a week. They're amazed at Tufts by how well he's doing.