The cat's heart is beating fast, what should I do? Symptoms and treatment methods for heart failure in cats. Changes that occur during cardiac dysfunction, their causes

Heart failure in cats occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump enough blood. This disease develops in animals after suffering infectious diseases and can occur in acute and chronic forms.

Chronic heart failure develops at a slow pace and, as a rule, occurs without pronounced symptoms. Disease in acute form, on the contrary, develops rapidly and the pet suddenly develops pulmonary edema. Acute heart failure is accompanied by bloody discharge from the mouth and nose and shortness of breath. Treatment in both cases should be prescribed by a veterinarian, and at the slightest suspicion of the development of the disease, the cat should be taken to him for an appointment. If the animal is not provided timely health care, then it may die.

Reasons for the development of the disease

The reasons for the development of heart failure in a cat can be different, the main ones include the following:

1. 1. Congenital heart pathologies. Such ailments in cats are extremely rare (about 2% of patients).
2. 2. Diseases of the heart muscle, the occurrence of which is provoked by infectious diseases.
3. 3. Cardiomyopathy caused by an incorrectly formulated cat diet. The disease develops if the pet does not receive enough taurine. Taurine is included in raw meat and fish, and during the cooking process it is destroyed.
4. 4. Worm larvae contained in mosquitoes. Tiny larvae enter the cat's bloodstream when a mosquito bites them and are lodged in pulmonary artery. They can reach up to 30 cm in size. The larvae interfere with the outflow of blood and cause damage to the arteries. Grown worms can entangle the animal’s heart and interfere with its full functioning. Their presence in a pet’s body can only be detected using a blood test.
5. 5. Hormonal changes that develop in a pet as it ages. Experts say that older pets (6 years and older) are most susceptible to developing heart failure.
6. 6. Disturbance of metabolic processes in the cat’s body. Most often, the cause of this disorder lies in poor nutrition.

Annual examination veterinarian and a well-designed pet diet will help prevent the occurrence of serious illnesses and prevent the development of heart failure in the cat.

Symptoms

Most often, heart failure occurs without pronounced symptoms; diagnosing it at home is quite difficult, especially in kittens.

If you carefully monitor your pet, you will notice the following characteristic signs of this disease:

• increased fatigue;
• wheezing;
• heavy breathing (indicates pulmonary edema);
• partial or complete paralysis of the hind limbs;
• tachycardia;
• strong thirst;
• rapid weight gain;
• cyanosis of the gums;
• refusal of food.

In older cats, the above symptoms include an unsteady gait, incessant coughing and lack of coordination. A sick pet's elbows may be placed sideways, the abdomen will increase in size, and seizures may occur, which are accompanied by loss of consciousness. As a rule, the animal quickly comes to its senses, but during an attack it experiences a severe lack of oxygen, which sometimes leads to the death of the cat.

Chronic heart failure manifests itself gradually, and the characteristic symptoms increase over time. Even attentive owners will not be able to diagnose the disease in this form, since at first the cat only slightly swells the area under the chest and limbs.

If you notice one or more symptoms characteristic of heart failure, you should urgently take your cat to see a veterinarian.

First aid and treatment

If a sick pet experiences an attack, it is necessary to immediately provide first aid at home. The action algorithm is as follows:

• lay the cat head to one side;
• pull out tongue;
• apply a cold compress to the head;
• bring a piece of cotton wool soaked in ammonia to your nose;
• fix the paws above the head to improve blood flow;
• take your pet to the veterinarian.

The veterinarian prescribes therapy based on the severity of the disease. In some cases, only a one-day stay of the cat in a veterinary hospital is required. Surgery is not performed, and a course of medications is prescribed to treat heart failure. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the higher the likelihood of a favorable outcome after treatment. In order to heal a pet, you must follow the following recommendations:

1. 1. Do not expose your pet to stressful situations (moving, the arrival of strangers, traveling on public transport).
2. 2. Give diuretic tablets to remove stagnant fluid from the body. Reducing the amount of fluid will help reduce the strain on the heart.
3. 3. Treat with ACE inhibitors. These drugs help increase blood flow.
4. 4. Treat the cat with drugs with a positive inotropic effect. Taking these drugs is necessary to control the heartbeat and slow down the heart so that it begins to pump out more blood.
5. 5. Create a special diet. It is necessary to switch him to specialized food intended for cats with heart pathologies. They contain the required amount of protein and taurine, and the salt content is reduced to a minimum.

If the pet’s body contains an excess amount of fluid, the veterinarian pumps it out using a sterile needle. This procedure alleviates the cat’s condition for a while, but over time the liquid accumulates again.

If the pet is not provided with timely assistance, then its heart and blood vessels will inevitably be damaged and it will soon die. It is impossible to use drugs to treat the disease without a veterinarian’s prescription, since the cat’s condition can only worsen. It is impossible to exceed the dosage recommended by the veterinarian and stop taking the drug without its instructions, since positive results achieved during treatment can be reduced to zero.

Heart failure is the inability of the heart to fully perform its main function, that is, to pump blood, supplying it to all organs and tissues of the body. Let's look at why this condition develops in our pets, what are the signs of heart failure in cats, and what treatment exists.

Causes and types of heart failure

There are many reasons for the development of this pathology. Any change, congenital or acquired, in the structure of the heart (heart muscle, valve apparatus, great vessels) leads to improper functioning of the heart.

Heart failure can occur in acute and chronic forms. During an exacerbation, the disease manifests itself especially strongly, but it can be compensated with the help of medications and go into chronic form with less intense manifestations. WITH chronic disease animals live for years, but exacerbations often recur in the future.

If the body’s strength and medications help to practically eliminate the manifestations of the disease, then they speak of compensated pathology. If the heart can no longer perform its function fully, then it is said to be decompensated.

In addition, failure may more affect certain parts of the heart, so a distinction is made between right-sided and left-sided heart failure. Since the left and right atria and ventricles of the heart perform different functions, the manifestations will also be different.

Symptoms of chronic heart failure in cats

Symptoms of cardiovascular failure in cats most often develop gradually, and there are four degrees of development of the disease:

1. External signs of the disease are absent or make themselves felt only during intense physical exertion.
2. Symptoms occur with moderate exertion (physical activity or mild stress).
3. The manifestation of symptoms both with and without light load.
4. Constant manifestation of symptoms.

The main signs of heart failure in cats are:

• increased breathing rate at rest;
• dyspnea;
• accumulation of fluid in the pleura (when fluid in chest cavity interferes with proper breathing) and abdominal cavity with right-sided insufficiency;
• wet cough with left-sided heart failure;
• fast fatiguability animal, decreased physical activity;
• growth retardation in kittens with congenital pathologies related to development

heart failure;

• cyanosis (nose, teeth, tongue acquire a purple tint) does not always occur.

Establishing diagnosis

The owner’s task is to take the animal to a veterinarian when the first suspicious symptoms appear. Examination and auscultation (listening) of the heart will help an experienced veterinarian make a preliminary diagnosis, which is clarified based on further research:

• Ultrasound of the heart (ECHO);
• chest x-ray;
• biochemical and clinical blood tests.

Examinations will help to understand exactly what changes have occurred in the heart, how much blood circulation is impaired and the anatomy of the organ itself has changed. Based on these data, it is already possible to select treatment for heart failure in cats.

Treatment of chronic heart failure in cats

Heart failure, unfortunately, reduces a pet's life expectancy. How much depends on the degree of development of the disease. Sometimes cats live for a very long time with chronic heart failure if it can be compensated for with medications.

For continuous use, small doses of diuretics are prescribed to eliminate excess liquid so that it does not accumulate in the abdominal cavity and lungs. It is necessary to give the cat medications that improve the contraction of the heart muscle and normalize the rhythm.

Control of physical activity plays an important role. You should avoid extreme stress. If your cat is overweight, it is better to reduce its weight by changing its diet.

Acute heart failure in cats: symptoms and treatment

Sometimes the condition sharply worsens, causing a deterioration in health and the development of a life-threatening condition. In this case, the following phenomena may occur:

• sudden lethargy;
• severe shortness of breath, turning into suffocation;
• pallor or cyanosis of mucous membranes;
• pulmonary edema - leakage of fluid into the alveoli (this phenomenon is described in detail in the article “Cardiogenic pulmonary edema in cats”).

If measures are not taken in time to relieve this condition, it may be complicated by the development of blood clots. The end result of acute heart failure is cardiogenic shock - a sharp decline ejection of blood by the heart and blood pressure, which often leads to death.

During acute conditions, the animal must undergo urgent resuscitation measures that are possible in a veterinary clinic. Large doses of diuretics are administered to remove excess fluid, antiarrhythmic drugs, drugs that increase cardiac output and dissolve blood clots.

If necessary, fluid is pumped out from the chest and abdominal cavity using surgical intervention(puncture), give oxygen.

Without normal heart function, the normal functioning of the body as a whole is impossible. It is very important for every owner of a tailed and mustachioed friend to understand general principle development of heart failure and know about the first signs of the disease.

Only early diagnosis this pathology allows you to select good treatment, with which the cat can live a fairly long and happy life.

Heart disease in both dogs and cats is quite common. They can be both congenital and acquired (age-related).

Dogs

A disease such as heart disease in dogs occurs in 15 cases out of 100. There are congenital heart defects and acquired ones (due to age or excessive physical exertion).

Types of disease

Congenital heart defects include:

1. patent ductus arteriosus. This defect is typical for breeds such as Rottweiler, Poodle, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, Labrador, Doberman Pinscher and others. Treatment of this disease is only possible through surgery. The prognosis is positive if there are no secondary changes in the right side of the heart muscle.
2. atrial septal defect. The essence of this defect is poor development or complete absence connective tissue between the atria. It is typical for Doberman Pinschers, Boxers and Medium Poodles. Unfortunately, surgery It is not practiced in Russia, and the therapeutic treatment does not give the desired effect. Animals with this pathology do not live long.
3. ventricular septal defect. A disease similar to the previous one, differing only in the location of the defect. Characteristic of breeds such as Doberman Pinscher, English Bulldog, Boxer and some others. The prognosis is unfavorable. Animals don't live long.
4. pulmonary stenosis. Doberman pinscher, French and English bulldogs, mastiffs, Dogue de Bordeaux and others suffer from this defect. In severe cases of the disease, surgical intervention is possible, but the mortality rate of dogs after and during the operation is very high.
5. aortic stenosis (English bulldog, boxer, Labrador, mastiff, Rottweiler). The treatment is similar, the prognosis is unfavorable.
6. The most severe combined heart defect is tetralogy of Fallot. The English Bulldog is susceptible to it. Animals with this congenital disease rarely survive beyond one year.

Symptoms

— Heart vibrations;

— Rapid or intermittent pulse;

- Drowsiness and weakness;

- Gums are bluish in color;

- weight loss.

Cough is not the main symptom in determining heart disease.

Forecast

Please remember that if your dog has birth defect heart disease, and not acquired as a result of natural aging of the body, then the prognosis is almost always unfavorable. Most animals die between six months and two to three years of age.

Treatment

By and large, treatment of heart defects in dogs is pointless, because it comes down to only maintenance therapy, which only mitigates the disorder of the heart, but does not eliminate the cause itself.

Cats

Unlike most dogs that lead an active lifestyle, cats are couch potatoes. It is very difficult to notice interruptions in their heart function. Percent birth defects heart muscle is very small, no more than 3%. Kittens with this pathology rarely survive to adulthood due to frequent diseases, including infectious ones. As mentioned above, heart disease in cats, as a rule, is acquired after suffering endocarditis during life, and appears closer to old age. This is not immediately noticeable; cats spend little time in active physical activity, so it is extremely difficult for an unprepared owner to notice the beginning of the process.

Symptoms

In cats clinical picture is extremely weakly expressed, therefore, unlike dogs, symptoms of heart disease in cats are not always visible to the naked eye. Thus, a tight stomach, noisy breathing after minor physical exertion may be signs of disorders on the left side of the heart. Fatigue and poor appetite may also indicate heart problems. Cats suffer from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Maine Coons, Siberian cats, Sphynxes, and Bengals are especially susceptible to this disease.

Cats have the same heart defects as dogs, with the exception of patent ductus arteriosus, which cats rarely get.

Diagnostics of all diseases is complex. It is necessary to conduct an examination using specialized equipment - echocardiography.

Treatment

Treatment of all heart defects is symptomatic, aimed at compensating cardiac activity. First of all, this is rest, according to symptoms, a diuretic or laxative, cardiac glycosides, diet, lack of stress and excessive physical activity.

Feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

veterinarian,

cardiologist at the Bely Klyk clinic - Mitino

The most common heart disease in cats is something called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). This is a pathology of the heart, accompanied by severe thickening of the heart muscle (myocardium) and leading to the development of heart failure, even death.

A distinctive feature of this disease is the insidious development of symptoms and the difficulty in treating late stages.

Heredity is to blame

The causes of the development of this disease have not yet been sufficiently studied, however, a number of studies have identified genetically inherited abnormalities that can lead to the development of HCM. It has been proven that representatives of the following breeds are especially predisposed to this pathology: Maine Coon. Ragdoll, Sphynx, British and American Shorthairs, Scottish Folds, Norwegian Forest cats and perhaps some others.

The mechanisms of inheritance of this disease have not yet been fully studied, but it has been proven that, for example, in the Maine Coon breed, HCM is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. At the same time, special tests (blood tests) are even common abroad to determine whether cats of this breed have corresponding deviations in the genotype. In Britain, for example, one in three Maine Coons are positive for HCM.

Hidden Killer

The mechanism of development of this pathology is that as the heart muscle thickens, the volume of the left ventricle decreases, as a result of which the volume of blood pumped through it decreases. Congestion develops, leading first to an enlargement of the left atrium, pulmonary veins, and then, in later stages, to the development of pulmonary edema and/or hydrothorax (accumulation of free fluid in the pleural cavity). Moreover, the insidiousness of this disease lies in the fact that the first symptom may be pulmonary edema and/or death. In some cases, symptoms such as shortness of breath (breathing with an open mouth) and poor exercise tolerance may appear in the early stages.

One of the most common complications of HCM, sometimes occurring against the background of the cat’s absolute apparent well-being, is thromboembolism. Enlargement of the left atrium and stagnation of blood leads to an increased risk of blood clots, which in turn lead to blockage of vital vessels and sometimes fatal outcome, especially in case of late application for veterinary care. Most often, blockage occurs at the level of the femoral arteries, in which case the first symptom will be sudden paralysis of the pelvic limbs and severe pain syndrome— the cat screams and doesn’t get up hind legs. In such cases, the count is in hours, if not minutes. The sooner the patient enters a specialized clinic, the greater the chance of restoring blood flow and minimizing the risk of complications.

Early diagnosis of the disease and its importance

Considering all of the above, timely diagnosis is extremely important. The sooner the doctor begins treatment, the longer the patient can live and the lower the risk of developing adverse complications.

The most accurate method for diagnosing HCM is echocardiography - ultrasonography heart by a cardiologist. However, in some cases, additional radiography is also important. chest and electrocardiography.

During an ultrasound examination, the doctor carries out a series of measurements and calculations, obtaining clear objective data, based on which a conclusion is made whether the patient has a pathology or not, and whether there is a risk of its development in the future.

Moreover, given the increased risks, it is especially important for representatives of the breeds described above to undergo such an examination. Proof of the special importance of this problem is, for example, the fact that in Western European countries it is legally prohibited to use for breeding or selling cats of risk group breeds that do not undergo regular examinations by a cardiologist for the presence of HCM-screening tests. Based on the results of such tests (ECHO-CG), the cat is issued a certificate confirming the absence of signs dangerous pathology. Similar tests with issuance of a certificate for English language are also carried out in our clinic. The results of such tests are recognized by foreign colleagues. As a rule, such examinations of breeding cats are carried out annually, starting from the second year of life.

In addition, if you are the owner of a cat of one of the risk group breeds or have sometimes noticed the symptoms described above in your pet (no matter what breed) and are planning to do general anesthesia(for example, regarding castration or sterilization), it is highly advisable to undergo an examination by a cardiologist before anesthesia to ensure that your pet does not have HCM. Unfortunately, cases of serious complications (including pulmonary edema and death) in the postoperative period (the first 2 weeks after anesthesia) in patients with a latent form of HCM are not uncommon.

Treatment of HCM

If the doctor nevertheless detects HCM in the patient, do not despair. There are modern effective schemes treatments for this disease, especially effective in identifying the disease on early stage. The drug of choice for such patients is primarily beta blocker drugs. also, if necessary, medications are prescribed to prevent thromboembolism, diuretics, calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, etc. However, it is important to remember that treatment should be prescribed by the attending doctor based on examination data; you should not self-medicate and get carried away “ folk remedies" Taking medications must be permanent; the patient must show up for scheduled follow-up examinations and not interrupt the prescribed treatment regimen.

HCM and breeding

It is extremely important to understand that if a cat is diagnosed with HCM, it is necessary to immediately remove it from breeding plans and check the entire line to avoid further spread of the pathology.

Our clinic has accumulated extensive experience in diagnosing and treating patients diagnosed with HCM. We have everything at our disposal necessary equipment and specialists who will help you with early diagnosis and treatment of this serious disease.

SIGNS OF A SICK CAT

Cats cannot complain about their health themselves, so their health is in your hands. You must closely monitor your animal, and at the first sign of discomfort, changes appearance or behavior to check if the cat is sick. Any deviation from normal behavior is a cause for concern.

If normally your cat behaves independently, but suddenly seeks your company and does not leave a single step from you or, conversely, does not leave its place all day, then try to find out what happened. Don't think that a cat's purring is a sign of health. Purring can sometimes indicate pain or illness. Unexpected aggression in an always calm and docile cat can be caused by pain, fever, concussion, infection, head injury, convulsions, or a diabetic crisis, which requires medical intervention.

A few words about what a healthy animal looks like.

A healthy cat has an excellent appetite, smooth and shiny fur, a cold and moist nose (during sleep it can be dry and warm), mucous membranes are pink and moderately moist. Signs of an animal's health are also vigor and mobility. Temperature, pulse and respiration rate are important criteria for assessing health status.

At illness The cat's behavior changes. She becomes lethargic, lies down more than usual, looks sad, tries to hide in a quiet darkened place, responds reluctantly to calls or, on the contrary, is overly excited, constantly moves around the apartment, meows pitifully or shows aggression. Movements may become awkward and coordination may be impaired. Signs of the onset of the disease also include rapid fatigue, loss of appetite, perhaps the cat does not eat anything, insomnia or, conversely, increased drowsiness.

Normal temperature from 38 to 39 degrees (for small kittens - up to 39.6 degrees, and for sphinxes - up to 41.5). A rise in temperature above 40 may indicate the onset of the disease. But we should also not forget that the animal’s body temperature rises during excitement and fear, after physical exertion, as well as in hot weather, during poisoning, after electric shock or due to hyperfunction thyroid gland.

Remember, or better yet, write down your cat's normal resting body temperature.

Pulse reflects the frequency and rhythm of the heartbeat, as well as the strength of the heart muscle impulses. At rest, the heart rate of a healthy cat ranges from 110 to 150 beats per minute. In large cats and animals leading more calm image life, heartbeat slow. The pulse increases when the temperature rises, during inflammatory processes, physical activity, overexcitation, fear and hot weather. In kittens and cats of small breeds, the pulse rate can reach 200 beats per minute; in cats, the pulse is lower than in cats.

Count and record your cat's resting heart rate - this will help you determine in the future whether its rate has changed in a given situation. It is enough to calculate the number of shocks in 15 seconds, and then multiply the resulting value by 4.

Frequency breathing cats can be easily identified by chest movements, abdominal wall or wings of the nose. Normally, it ranges from 20 to 30 respiratory movements per minute. Kittens and young animals, which have a more active metabolism than adults, breathe more quickly than adult cats, and females breathe more quickly than males. In addition, pregnant or lactating cats breathe at a higher rate than normal. Respiration rate is also influenced by size and genetic factors: small cats breathe more often than large cats, which is explained more high level metabolism and, accordingly, increased heat loss. Changes in your cat's breathing rate can be caused by fear, pain, shock, or respiratory illness. It should also be taken into account that breathing becomes more frequent in hot weather, during physical activity, and when the cat is excited. The breathing of a healthy animal after exercise is restored within a few minutes. Difficulty breathing can be caused by heatstroke or, in rare cases, a lack of calcium in the blood during lactation in females. An animal may suffocate due to heart failure or inflammation genitourinary system, as well as when swallowing a foreign object.

Coat becomes ruffled, dull, and may experience increased shedding, changes in color (yellowness) or skin elasticity.

A sick cat has discharge (purulent, mucous, etc.) from the nose, eyes, mouth and other organs. Colorless discharge may indicate anemia, yellowish discharge may indicate liver damage, bloody discharge may indicate serious infection or poisoning, and bluish discharge may indicate heart failure or disturbances in the circulatory system.

Nasal speculum (nose) dry, constantly warm (a sign of elevated temperature), cracked skin, mucopurulent discharge from the nostrils, the formation of dry crusts, a whitened lobe (a sign of anemia) - sure signs of a cat’s illness.

A sick cat may experience various discharge from the eyes(transparent, purulent, mucous, etc.), squinting and lacrimation can reflect pain in the eye; in a number of diseases, yellowness of the mucous membrane and inflammation of the eyelids are observed. In case of conjunctivitis, poisoning and some other cases, the eyes are sometimes half-closed by the third eyelid.

Concerning oral cavity. with the disease, increased salivation may be observed, there is an unpleasant odor from the mouth, the gums and tongue are covered with plaque or ulcers. The mucous membranes of the mouth and eyelids are pale, bluish or icteric.

Digestion may also be violated. Activity gastrointestinal tract changed: vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, painful bowel movements, and accumulation of gases in the intestines are noted. IN stool Foreign objects appear (wool, worms, etc.). Drops of blood in the stool (normally brown) also indicate serious internal pathology, usually bleeding in the large intestine. ABOUT stomach bleeding, or bleeding in the anterior intestine, is indicated by tarry stool of a dark, almost black color. Clarified feces are a sign of liver disease (lack of bile, etc.). Foamy feces are an indicator of a bacterial infection.

From the outside genitourinary system the following abnormalities may be observed: increased urination, urinary incontinence, lack of urination, pain during bowel movements Bladder, change in color (normal urine is yellow) and amount of urine, unpleasant odor, mucopurulent discharge from the genitals, hunched back, stiff gait, pain in the lumbar region. A sweetish smell from the mouth may also indicate that your cat has kidney problems. Diseases that make it difficult to urinate and pass food can be a tumor, prostate hypertrophy, hemorrhoids, cystitis, and urolithiasis.

Breath becomes frequent or, conversely, rare and cautious (if painful), wheezing, wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath appear. Shortness of breath in a cat may be caused by increased physical activity, asthma, inflammation or emphysema of the lungs, which, in turn, are a consequence of poisoning. Difficulty breathing is observed with pleurisy, heart failure, anemia, and heartworms. In older cats, a sign of heart failure may be a cough.

Lymphatic system. Increased sizes lymph nodes, as a rule, indicate the presence inflammatory process. Most often involved in this process submandibular lymph nodes, so you should learn to find and feel them.

Increased thirst may be associated with colds, diabetes, dropsy, renal failure, or kidney disease, and if physical weakness and smell from the mouth are added to it, then this most likely indicates uremia.

Vomit develops in response to poisonous herbs entering the stomach and in general during poisoning, with helminthic infestation, travel in transport. Vomiting and increasing physical weakness in combination with constipation indicate intestinal obstruction and the presence of a foreign body in the intestine.

Yellowness of mucous membranes may be a sign of hepatitis, poisoning, leptospirosis.

Increased salivation occurs when the tongue and oral cavity are damaged, when foreign body into the esophagus, with heat and sunstroke, with poisoning and some liver diseases. It may also be a symptom of such terrible disease like rabies.

But indicated signs diseases, as a rule, do not manifest themselves all at the same time: usually one symptom is most pronounced, and the rest accompany it (in one or another combination). The improvement in the cat’s well-being and recovery can be judged after the disappearance of all painful manifestations characteristic of a particular disease.

The posture of a cat can tell you a lot. A healthy animal rests or sleeps in a relaxed position, with its torso straightened and limbs stretched out. A sick cat takes a forced position that helps reduce pain or any other discomfort. In particular, with heart disease, a cat stands with its forelimbs spread wide apart - this makes breathing easier; The cat holds the injured limb suspended; at urolithiasis Possible intermittent claudication on the hind legs on the left or right, according to a diseased kidney, etc.

The above symptoms manifest themselves to varying degrees, and their combination also varies widely. If there is anything about your cat's physical condition or behavior that worries you, call your veterinarian or your nearest veterinarian. veterinary clinic(try to keep these phones at hand or in a visible place at all times). A telephone consultation may be sufficient to help your pet.

A cat's heart, like any other, is not immune to various ailments. The disease can be acquired during life, congenital, or even transmitted genetically. Let's try to figure out what these diseases have in common, what are the symptoms of the disease and treatment for the heart of cats.

What are the types of heart diseases in cats?

All heart diseases are associated with disruption of the proper functioning of this organ. They can affect various tissues and areas of the heart, occur acutely or chronically over many years, be accompanied by violent manifestations, or, conversely, remain unnoticed throughout the cat’s life.

We can conditionally divide all heart diseases into the following groups based on the cause and localization of the process:

• Inflammatory heart diseases occur in organ tissues according to the most various reasons, including infectious ones. Based on localization, they are divided into pericarditis (inflammation of the outer lining of the organ), myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle itself), and endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the organ).
• Pathological changes in heart tissue (cardiomyopathy).
• Heart defects - congenital and acquired (we discussed them in detail in the article “Heart defects in cats”).
• Disorders of cardiac rhythm and conduction.
• Dirofilariasis (about this in our article “Heartworms in cats: the main symptoms of the disease”).

Most cases of heart failure in cats are associated with cardiomyopathies (we discussed this issue in detail in the article “Cardiomyopathy in cats, symptoms and treatment of the disease”).

Main symptoms

Any heart disease to one degree or another leads to the development of heart failure. The most noticeable symptoms in cats are dyspnea (breathing with the tongue hanging out), fatigue during exercise, blue tongue (cyanosis) and ascites (an enlarged abdomen due to fluid accumulation).

Unfortunately, animals kept in apartments rarely show sufficient physical activity. When a cat sleeps most of the day and only walks to the litter tray and bowl, the stress on the heart simply does not occur. Therefore, if the cat diseased heart, symptoms may not appear until sudden death animal.

How is feline heart disease treated?

For cardiac problems, the main treatment method is the constant use of certain medications. Unfortunately, in most cases, heart disease cannot be completely cured, but we can compensate pathological process, support the body to minimize unwanted manifestations.

Properly selected therapy can not only prolong life little patient, but also significantly improve its quality.

For more information on the main medications used in veterinary cardiology, read the article “Heart medications for cats”. It is important to understand that only compliance exact dosages and constant use of special means can give a lasting effect.

In cases where the symptoms of heart problems in a cat are not pronounced and no significant changes in blood flow are visible during studies, the animal is not prescribed treatment at all, subject to constant monitoring of the condition by a veterinarian and the owner.