What conditions can mimic heart failure without being fatal?

[SqueakingJellybean]

We're not sure what happened, but yesterday, we thought we were going to lose Norm to heart failure. His ears and tail were pale, he went all puffy and tiny-eyed, and he was very lethargic. He spent the day alternating between drinking and sleeping/reclining. By about midnight, he was willing to accept some vanilla pudding. (I tried him with rescue food earlier in the day, and he was not remotely interested.)

Having experienced this before with Seraph about 20 years ago, we figured he'd pass quietly before the day was out. (Back in the day, Seraph passed in about fifteen minutes.) Here we are, the next day, and not only is he not dead, but he's grooming again, he's eating some, and he's starting to be a bit social again. He's camped out in the space pod, his favourite napping place. He was making a very tiny wheeze last night-- I had to get my ear right next to him to hear it-- but that's gone this morning. His eyes are open wider, and he's definitely showing improvement. We know he's not all the way out of the woods, but we're worried that taking him to the vet could stress him out badly enough to kill him. Norm is a nervous boy at the best of times. When Arthur went into heart failure, he was gasping, uninterested in food or water, and I don't think he slept much. Norm isn't showing those signs-- he has to stop to rest occasionally, but he's still getting around the DCN relatively well.

Does anyone know what can mimic heart failure without being fatal? Could this have been a spider bite? Anyone have experience with this?

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

Update:

Norm gave himself a good all-over groom this morning. He's eating more, still drinking, and even came out on the bed last night to run around and wrestle with his brother. He's still a bit weak, but he's rapidly improving. I don't need to spoon-feed him any more.

I have no idea what happened to him. I don't think it was a stroke; both sides seemed to be equally affected, and he never lost hi sense of which way the floor was. (We had a wee older guy suffer a minor stroke about 15 years back. He recovered, and lived for close to a year after. He spent the first day or two trying to walk in the air while laying on his side. Norm showed no similar signs.)

At this point, I'm less worried about the cause and more concerned about keeping Norm in the land of the living. He is a resilient little muffin.

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

Update #2:

After some research, it looks like Norm might have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I'll be making a vet appointment for him so we can maybe get him on some meds, keep him around longer. Oleksii would be crushed to lose his brother.

I'm not sure how long we can keep him going, but we'll help him fight as long as he's up for it.