Cat Training

heart disease

Just like humans, as cats get older, they can develop many diseases that affect their heart, kidneys and other organs. The most frequent diseases of older cats are cancer, renal or kidney disease, diabetes, hyperthyroidism (disease of the thyroid gland), dental disease and heart disease. Because cats age seven times faster than we do, examinations done by your veterinarian twice a year can help detect problems earlier when they can still be treated. Laboratory tests, such as blood work, ECG, ultrasound and blood pressure monitoring can help detect problems earlier.

A common heart disease that occurs cats is hypertrophic cardipmyopathy (HCM). Cardiomyopathy is found more frequently in cats than in dogs. HCM is an acquired heart disease that causes the muscular walls of the ventricles to thicken. As the disease progresses the pumping capabilities of the heart decreases. The heart muscle gets thicker and stiffer and can’t contract to push the blood out as it should. The narrow heart chamber holds a smaller volume of blood, so less blood is pumped out of the heart with each beat of the heart., This results in the amount of blood that once filled the heart is less than it should be and the heart muscle can’t contract as well to move the blood out of the heart into the body. The diseased heart has to pump faster and harder than normal to keep the blood flowing throughout the body. The resulting pressure begins to back up the blood into the lungs causing edema and congestion and eventually leads to congestive heart failure.

Sometimes, the faulty heart will have changes in the conduction system that tells the heart when to contract. Irregular conduction can occur in the diseased heart resulting in sudden death, similar to young athletes that die during practice.

Another problem that can occur from the cardiomyopathy is a disease called feline aortic thromboembolism (FATE). Occasionally, blood clots can dislodge and clog the arteries going to the rear legs. The dislodged blood clot can cause severe pain, a lreduction of blood flow to the legs, paralysis and death. The common term is of this condition is a saddle thrombus. With intesive therapy, 40% of cats may recover and regain use of their legs. However, these cats still risk developing another episode and still suffer from the primary heart condition.

Cats are very good as masking underlying physical problems and early screening is key to helping these cats live a full life. Your fat and lazy cat may actually be hiding a heart condition. Of course not all fat and lazy cats a have heart disease, and exams by your veterinarian can help detect disease if it is present. Diagnostic tests, such as, EKG, blood pressure monitoring and ultrasound can help the veterinarian detect heart disease. Ultrasound is the only way to truly detect the thickened walls of the heart and is now used to screen our young human athletes as well.

Special medication can be given to help cats with their heart function and reduce the edema in their lungs. The prognosis for a cat that has already developed the congestive heart failure is guarded, and even with medication, survival rates are 12-18 months after diagnosis and sudden death can occur at any time.

At your cat’s next health check, speak with your veterinarian about developing a wellness plan for yor cat. By diagnosing disease conditions earlier, changes in diet and medication can help your cat live longer.

You can find more on Cat Health Care at LuvUrCat.com

 

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