Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 3/26/2010

Question
Hello,
My cat is a Norwegian Forest Cat and will be 12 years this August. Last year in September i got him to have a dental (teeth cleaning). He had to have one tooth extracted. 6 weeks later i brought him to my vet in an emergency because he was having difficulty breathing. The vet diagnosed heart disease. Now i have done a lot of research on the net already and realise that he probably had the condition for a long time and the shock of the dental pushed him over the edge. Also Norwegian are supposedly predisposed to cardiomyopathy (which i didn't know). I also used to feed him exclusively dried food which now i realise is totally unatural. What has puzzled me is this: Since the dental, he makes a noise in the back of his throat when he eats, kind of a cliking/gringind noise. And although he asks for food and seems keen to eat, after a few licks he looses interest. He is just skin and bones now. Last week, i have seen another vet who took several Xrays. Nothing seems to show. The reason i landed on this website is because when i googled "my cat makes a cliking noise when he eats" a similar question came up on this site (2008). Unfortunately due to the cat dying, the vet didn't give the answer. Although i have put him on raw meat, hawthorn tincture, dandelion tea... i realise heart disease is final but i will not rest until i am told that the cliking noise is a side effect of the disease and not something else. In your experience do cat make this noise when it's the end? Thank you and i hope you can help.
Pascale

Answer
Pascale,
Maybe he isn't eating because he doesn't want what you are feeding him and he is starving. You need to get him back on a normal diet right away. First of all, you are omitting one of the most major nutrients that cats have to have for their heart, taurine, by giving him such an imbalanced diet. I know you meant well, but I fear you have exacerbated the problem with this diet. It's a little late to be changing foods to something you think is natural.

It's natural for a cat that lives on the street, or a lion, but not a house cat.
Get him some wet food if you think the dry is not good for him. Get him some Science Diet (or Science Plan it's called in the UK) and get him the senior or the indoor cat variety. He needs optimal nutrition right now, not hit or miss or overloads on protein which is what he is getting right now. Get him some Science Plan senior and give it to him slowly with what he is eating so that he doesn't get diarrhea. He needs solid, balanced nutrients right now.

You said you had some xrays done, but did they xray his jaw as well? Maybe his jaw is a bit out of alignment from them working on it and extracting the tooth.
I would have the vet check it very carefully and maybe xray it.

But you have to realize that any cat with CM is going to have problems. You did say that he was having issues that you didn't realize were related to the CHF so the clicking noise could be a valve in his heart you just happen to hear when he has his mouth open more to eat.  

I would not say that cat's make this noise when it's the end because of the being near the end, but they might make it if they are suffering with congestive heart failure or cardiomyopathy. I have heard cats purr when we had to euthanize them but not clicking sounds.

I can tell you this, however, in my experience cats and dogs both will stop eating when they prepare themselves to die. That's just the way it is. But your cat sounds like he is very hungry. Please get him some regular food and get him back on it.

Talk to your vet about having his jaw looked at also and maybe have his heart listened to again for that sound.

I hope that he hangs in there Pascale. Please get him some good food to eat soon!!

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I just wanted to add that your cat really should be on a low sodium diet from the vet's such as H/D for cats,which is made for cats with heart disease. He would really benefit from that.