Tate

This is Tate. Thank you to Tate's mom for sharing his story. Leave a comment below if you have any questions or would like to know more about Tate's treatment.

I first discovered nattokinase and its powerful clot dissolving activity when my beloved three year old orange tabby, polydactyl rescue cat Tater Tot suddenly suffered from the first clot dislodged from his heart. I came home to find Tate crying in pain and dragging his hind limbs that appeared to be paralyzed. I rushed him to the local veterinary emergency room, thinking this was a leg injury from an accident in the house. The vet ran multiple tests and performed scans to determine that it was a blood clot. He told me to give Tate baby aspirin to prevent future clots and hopefully his body would form new blood vessels around the clot so circulation could return over the next week. This did not happen. Instead, Tate's limbs remained paralyzed, lacking any blood flow. I visited various specialists, including a cardiologist and quickly found myself in serious financial debt. Even after these visits, nobody had a solution, there was simply no treatment for the clot. The thrombolytic agents that had been available for cats, were only available through a study that had taken place at UPenn Vet School. The study was no longer taking place. It was discontinued due to reperfusion injuries and a high mortality rate for cats involved.

Tate was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The cardiologist recommended I put Tate on baby aspirin. In his echocardiogram, the cardiologist detected another large clot that he told me would be dislodged from his heart, most likely soon. He told me Tate's prognosis was poor and that this was late stage HCM. He told me Tate may live another two to three weeks. He said I had the option of euthanizing him now, to avoid him suffering another clot. I was crushed. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There were no treatments for the clots and no treatments for HCM? Tate was only three years old and was such a happy, playful, loving companion. I couldn't accept what this specialist had to tell me. I was not going to give up on Tate, I knew he would never give up on me. I went to another cardiologist for a second opinion. He recommended that I put Tate on Plavix (Clopidogrel), a blood thinner, to prevent future clots.

Unfortunately, the tissue in Tate's legs soon became necrotic and we had no choice but to have his hindlimbs amputated. After the surgery, Tate seemed relieved to no longer have to drag the rotting limbs that were once his healthy, mobile legs. He healed quickly and was soon back to normal, playing with my other rescue cats. It was as if he never lost his hindlimbs. He would lift his back and balance the weight of his body on his forelimbs while he walked, ran, and even went up and down stairs. He was such an inspiration. So strong and so amazing. His drive to live and love was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. Though we had a wonderful organization design and build a wheelcart just for Tate, when it arrived, he had no interest in it. He almost seemed embarrassed that I would even consider a wheelcart for him. He got around just fine without it. The stairs and climbing on top of our bed, was hardly a challenge for him. Though I purchased a ramp for him to get on top of my bed easily, he preferred grabbing onto my mattress and scaling/climbing the box spring and mattress with his many claws to get to the top and join my other furry kids and I. 

Though I was relieved that Tate was still with me and seemed very comfortable and happy after healing from the double amputation, I knew that eventually, if not soon, the growing clot in his heart would be dislodged. I had to do something about this or he would suffer again and possibly lose his life.

Since I couldn't find answers from the local vet community, I searched through peer-reviewed scientific literature online. The prescription thrombolytics that I read about, if they were available, were extremely expensive and dangerous. They'd also have to be administered via injection immediately after the clot was thrown. The mortality rate was extremely high in the studies I read for these prescription blood clot busters. It was no wonder the vets didn't recommend them. I didn't even know where I could go if I did choose to risk treatment with these drugs.

I decided to search for natural ways to dissolve clots. Rather than finding literature on blood clot busting agents, I found several articles on natural remedies to thin blood and prevent clots. This is when I came across this enzyme. There had been very few scientific studies on the enzyme and its thrombolytic activity. There was one study in which blood clots were induced in dogs and treatment with the enzyme was successful, but there were no studies that demonstrated efficacy in treating clots in cats. There were also no studies that demonstrated that oral administration of the enzyme was effective in dissolving clots.

Though evidence was lacking in scientific literature that this enzyme would dissolve clots in cats when administered orally, after reading through forums that spoke highly of this enzyme's activity in increasing circulation and preventing clots, I went ahead and ordered the enzyme as a supplement in tablet form. I had no idea if it would dissolve Tate's growing clot and if it could, I had no idea how much enzyme I would need to give Tate in order to dissolve the clot. Regardless, this enzyme appeared to be the only hope for Tate and I.

I ordered the enzyme after researching various different forms of it through various suppliers. I chose the form of the enzyme that I felt would be most potent and would reach his small intestine more quickly than other forms of the enzyme that were available on the market.

It was 4 months after his last clot and 3 months after I received the enzyme, the large clot that had been forming in his heart was suddenly dislodged. I knew he had thrown the clot immediately, since he had the same clinical signs as when he threw the first clot. I panicked as soon as I saw him fall to his side on my bed. The clot had apparently been thrown to his right forelimb. That limb appeared paralyzed and felt cold. He was already losing the color in his paw pad. He went from crying to becoming silent and barely looking like he was alive. He had a blank stare and was breathing rapidly. The rapid breathing went to much slower breathing and I thought I was losing him, I thought his heart was failing. I quickly opened the bottle of enzyme tablets and began orally administering the tablets. He fought at first but after 2 tablets he stopped fighting and swallowed them with little effort on my part. Maybe he could tell they were helping him? I will never forget this moment because it was only after about 15 minutes of administering these tablets for Tate, that he came back to me as if nothing had ever happened. The enzyme was so quick in dissolving the blood clot that Tate was able to get up after 15 minutes and begin walking around. The color and warmth slowly returned to his right forelimb and the life in his eyes was back. He was active and wanted to play with my other rescue cats within that hour. I kept Tate on a maintenance dose of the enzyme after this, and he never experienced another clot again.