I posted earlier this week (under a different user name, I'm away from
home and posting through Google instead of with Outlook Express from
my home computer) about my cat, 4-year-old Maine Coon/Norwegian Forest
Cat mix, who at first we thought had been poisoned because of dilated
eyes and agitation ... then we thought it was glaucoma or retinal
damage.

After a visit with a veterinary opthamologist today, who went above
and beyond a regular eye exam, and then a return visit to our regular
vet, we now know exactly what is going on.

Our cat has cardiomyopathy, with an enlarged left atrium. Which I
know, based on some research I've done online, is pretty much the
worst-case scenario here.

The cat apparently has a heart murmur that is coming and going. The
opthomologist detected one that she ranked as a 4 out of 6 on the
scale. However, our regular vet did not detect one, but they said that
it could be coming and going. Both vets detected harsh breathing
sounds.

The opthomologist also said it sounded to her that the left atrium was
involved. Our regular vet did X-rays, and the side view didn't show
anything but the direct view showed a very, very enlarged heart, as I
said in the left atrium area.

Our vet now feels certain that the cat threw a blood clot and had an
ischemic incident, like a stroke, the other day when his eyes were
impaired.

The next step would be to have an echocardiogram done to absolutely
nail this down, then go with some medicines to try to treat the
condition.

Our regular vet painted an optimistic picture, saying that vets are
doing amazing things in treating heart disease in pets medically these
days.

As I said, though, my research on this has painted this as a worst-
case scenario in which treatment with medicine will only stave off the
inevitable, maybe even for just a matter of months.

We love the cat, we don't want to lose him, we don't want to just sit
around and wait for him to die, our inclination is to do something ...
but I don't want to do anything that's just going to buy him a few
months with no guarantee of good quality of life, because that few
months would be for us, not him.

Anyone who's had experience with this, or knows anything about this,
can you give me some idea of just how dire a situation this is, and
whether going above and beyond in treating this cat would be just
staving off the inevitable for a very short period of time? Or is
there reason for my vet's optimism? I guess the question is, is there
any real, legitimate hope or reason for optimism here, because my
family and I feel like we've been punched in the guts and all the air
knocked out of our bodies right now.

Thanks in advance for any help or input.