. Cat owners are often unaware that their cat has a heart problem until its heart is well on its way to failing. Often the only signs in your cat are weight loss, and difficulty breathing. Cats are more likely to make asthmatic and retching-like sounds than to have a persistent hacking cough. Unfortunately, even when given proper medications, cats with generalized heart disease rarely survive long periods. Signs of all forms of heart disease in cats are quite similar. So your veterinarians will need to rely on sophisticated tests and the trained eye of a specialist to have the possibility of telling one potential cause from another .
Heart Problems That Are Common In Both Dogs And Cats :
In many ways, your pet’s heart is like a car’s motor. If one part goes out, it is not long before it causes another part to fail. So in reality, most actual cases of heart disease are a combination of several problems. The normal heart has a very precise shape. As its shape expands due to overwork and becomes more rounded, the heart is not able to perform any of its tasks well because of its distorted shape.
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF):
Congestive heart failure is the result of an enlarged heart – one that allows blood to abnormally pool (congest), move sluggishly throughout the body and pool in areas where it does not belong. No mater what the underlying heart problem was, CHF is often the end result. You can read in more detail about how this problem affects dogs here. CHF is less common in cats. But when cats develop CHF, how it affects their bodies is quite similar.
CHF occurs when the heart is unable to meet the circulatory demands of the pet’s body. Many things can trigger it: a heart pumping against increased back pressure, decreased efficiency as a pump. valve defects, tumors, heartworms, heart beat abnormalities, or damaged to the muscle itself all cause the heart to enlarge and blood to pool in the pet’s organs and lungs. CHF can be the end result of any of those things. X-ray and/or cardiac ultrasound are the ways your veterinarian confirms CHF.
Because CHF is a common human problem too, new drugs are constantly being developing and refining to treat it. These human medications work quite well in dogs and cats too. So your veterinarian might decide on a drug(s) I do not mention. This is particularly the case when you visit a veterinary cardiologist. They keep close watch on the methods used by human cardiologists. However, it is always uncertain if these newer human medications will extend the life of your pet any more than those that are more commonly used by your local veterinarian. It take 5-10 years for even human meta studies to confirm the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a new heart failure treatments, medications or supplements. (read here , here & here)
Veterinarians usually treat CHF with several medication groups at once:
Veterinarains remove as much pooled fluids and blood as they can with drugs called diuretics. Once these excess fluids are removed from your pet’s lungs, its cough should improve or cease. The cow-like pot-belly associated with CHF should also go away. The most commonly used diuretics in dogs and cats is furosemide (Lasix®). When furosemide on its own is no longer effective enough in decreasing fluid retention in your dog or cat, veterinarians often add a second diuretic called spironolactone. Do not be surprised when your pet drinks and urinates more on these medications. One should never limit your dog or cats water consumption in an attempt to prevent pooled chest or abdominal fluids. That can cause severe dehydration which is bad or worse than the heart issue you pet faces.
Veterinarians also attempt to increase the diameter of blood vessels throughout your pet’s body with vasodilator drugs so that your dog or cat’s heart does not have to work as hard. Most of the medicines of this group are called ACE inhibitors. The most common ones in this group that veterinarians dispense are enalapril (Enacard®) benazepril (Lotensin®) and lisinopril (Prinivil®). By making it easier for blood to flow 