Ozzie

We nearly lost our cat Ozzie on Tuesday. I had noticed his breathing has been kind of off over the past couple of weeks but his appetite was still great and he was still active. Earlier this week, though, I decided it was time to see the vet. He was just "not right". In fact the very day I took him..he suddenly got worse. They did a chest x-ray which showed so much fluid around his heart that they couldn't even see his heart on x-ray..or hear it with the stethoscope. The vet gave him an injection of Lasix and said we would know within 24 hours if it would help but if not to take him to the emergency vet. She even wrote up a referral expaining what she had already done and her findings for them just in case. I took him home to wait and watch. He got much worse so we grabbed him and his chest x-ray and referral and went to the emergency vet about 30 minutes away with him struggling with each breath. They whisked him away to put oxygen on him and to do a chest tap to draw off the fluid. 400 milliliters according to the vet. She said they thought they were going to lose him before they could get the fluid off. They did an Echocardiogram (yes they have those for kitty's too) and found that he has an enlarged atrium and decreased heart function which caused the fluid build up. We were there for 5 hours, like any other ER I suppose. I got to see him before we left and he was like a totally different cat =).They kept him overnight to watch him and I brought him home yesterday along with 4 prescriptions. As I type he's curled up keeping my mousepad warm. His prognosis for a long life is not a great one but for now he's perfectly comfortable and happy.. and I have my sweet boy for a while longer.