Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Postural drainage and high flow oxygen help cats with severe heart
By Adamik, Katja-Nicole et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2025·Department of Clinical Veterinary Science·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Postural drainage and high flow nasal oxygen therapy in four cats with decompensated cardiogenic pulmonary oedema.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Four cats with severe heart failure and fluid in their lungs were brought in after not improving with standard treatments. They were given oxygen and underwent a procedure called postural drainage to help clear the fluid. After this, they received high-flow nasal oxygen, which significantly improved their breathing without complications. Three of the cats responded well and were able to stop the oxygen therapy after several hours, but one cat needed to be re-intubated and was later euthanized due to its condition. Another cat was also euthanized a few days later because of the severity of its illness.
People also search for: cat heart failure treatment · cat breathing problems · high flow nasal oxygen for cats · postural drainage in cats · congestive heart failure in cats
Abstract
CASE SERIES SUMMARY: This case series describes four cats with decompensated congestive heart failure and fulminant cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (CPE) that did not respond to conventional treatment and oxygen therapy, and subsequently developed hypoxaemic respiratory failure. The cats were anaesthetised to enable endotracheal intubation, manually ventilated with 100% oxygen and postural drainage was performed immediately to evacuate pulmonary oedema. Afterwards, the cats were extubated and transitioned to high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO). HFNO allowed significant improvement in the respiration parameters without causing clinical complications. In three of the cats, the procedure was successful; duration of HFNO ranged between 4 and 44 h, and they were successfully weaned off the HFNO therapy. One cat required re-intubation due to HFNO-response failure and was ultimately euthanased. Another cat was euthanased 5 days later due to the severity of its underlying disease. RELEVANCE AND NOVEL INFORMATION: This is the first report describing the combined technique of postural drainage and HFNO in cats with decompensated CPE. This combined technique could be a life-saving option for cats that fail to respond to conventional therapies and for which positive pressure ventilation is not an option.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39895139/