I sent this directly to Dr. Williams as smartgroups seems to be down
today.  I'm desperate for any help.
 
Max, 6 y/o albino, was diagnosed with valvular disease about 2 months
ago.  This is how it was explained to me by a friend,
 
"Max's problem is that when the blood gets pumped up into the aorta it
'slides' back because the valve that's supposed to keep it forward is
dilated.  "
 
On top of this problem, his glucose was in the 30's (but no visible
signs of insulinoma).  Before diagnosis of the heart condition my vet
prescribed pred.  for the insulinoma.  About 3 days into receiving the
med, he began to breath heavily.  Suspecting cardio (based upon xrays) we
did an ultrasound and found his heart to be normal but the problem was
valvular.
 
Stopping pred., we began him on proglycem 2x a day to continue to combat
the insulinoma (still no visible symptoms).  About 3 weeks ago I brought
Max back in for a check up - he seemed lethargic though his coughing
stopped.  Blood test came back normal, but the vet felt a *small* growth
in his abdomen.  Once again, a ultrasound was done and it was determined
that a large tumour was wrapping itself around his liver and several
other tumours were also visible.  Diagnosis = cancer.  I opted not to
biopsy and my vet felt surgery is not an option.
 
Currently Max is on lasix, endicard, and proglycem.  He seemed to be
doing *well* - the lasix is keeping the fluid build up down and he was
eating and defecating normally.
 
Now as of today, Max has labored breathing.  His stomach is wracked in
heavy breathing and his exhaling is quite pronounced.  He continues to
eat every time I offer the bottle (1-2 hrs) but with less gusto - I
suspect the effort tires him out.  I also notice that if I feed him too
much at one sitting, he develops a bit of a cough - like something is
stuck in his throat.  This can last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.
 
Now for my question: my vet isn't sure if the labored breathing is
heart/lung related or if possibly the tumours are becoming invasive.  We
began the endicard last nite and are waiting 48-72 hrs to see if there is
any changes in his breathing.  My question is: is there anything else we
can do to make him more comfortable?  I can tell that Max is not ready to
go yet.  He continues to move around (best as he can) and he enjoys being
held and being with his cage mates.  Would pred be an option to impede
the tumour growth?  Is there any other drug cocktails that would help
with the breathing and not counteract his heart problem?  I mentioned
digoxin (another friend has had good success with it) to my vet, but he
was concerned of the toxicity.
 
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks so much.
 
Tanya Grave
[Posted in FML issue 4086]