What is Feline Heart Disease
Unless
a heart murmur is the first thing diagnosed in a cat, usually heart disease is
diagnosed when the cat is unable to breathe. Many pet owners may not have
noticed that for a few days leading up to the moment they noticed the cat's
inability to breathe, that the cat may not have been eating well, or may have
been lethargic, or looked as if uncomfortable or in pain, or may have had to
stop and rest often while walking or running, or may have been breathing
rapidly while resting. A cat that is breathing rapidly in distress, will
have while sleeping or while resting but not sleeping, rapid chest (or center
of the body) heaving movements. It is rare that a cat will cough or will
pant with its mouth open while in breathing distress but those should not be dismissed
either. Another common sign that pet owners encounter is finding the cat
is suddenly having a heart attack or a lame/paralyzed limb. These are
caused by a blood clot that has formed in the heart and broken away and
traveled through the body. Sometimes, pet owners come home and find that
the cat has suddenly died.
In general, there are four types of heart disease seen in cats: HCM-hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, RCM-restrictive cardiomyopathy, DCM-dilated cardiomyopathy, and ARVC-Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy. And then there are variations on a theme, such as Feline Moderator Band Cardiomyopathy. While each might affect the heart function differently and may have unique symptoms, all affect the ability of the heart to fully function, can lead to congestion and impaired breathing ability, blood clots, heart attacks, and eventually death.
They share many of
the same medications used to treat the disease.
While heart
disease leads to death, the progression of the disease varies from patient to
patient depending on the type of heart disease, the age of the cat at first
incident or diagnosis, if the disease was discovered before the cat became ill
of the effects of the disease or whether CHF or a heart attack or a blood
clot occurred first, and the effect of the medications upon the
disease. Some cats will be diagnosed as a kitten and may die young while
others will live for years-either with few symptoms or issues or complications
or with many symptoms, issues, and complications. Some cats will be free
of the disease while young but will have the disease appear around the age of
8-18 and will have a couple of years or a few years left. The ability of
a cat to live with heart disease for any length of time depends on a pet owner's
vigilance, medication therapy, and quality vet care, as well as the general
health of the cat. Controlling congestion, decreasing the likelihood of
clots, and keeping the cat free of stress will go a long way in managing the
progression of the disease and the effects of the disease on the cat.
"Hypertrophic"
means thickened, where the walls and ventricles of the heart become too thick,
or hypertrophied, making it difficult for the heart to fully function and
contract or pump blood. Other diseases also cause thickening of the left
ventricular wall, including aortic stenosis, hyperthyroidism, and high blood
pressure.
There
are many breeds to which heart disease is prevalent: Maine Coon, Sphynx,
Ragdoll, Siberian, etc. But it also includes the regular house cat so
basically, almost any cat is a potential victim of heart disease.
What is Moderator Band Cardiomyopathy
Very little is known of Moderator Band Feline Cardiomyopathy. They are bands of tissue that attach between walls in the Left Ventricle, restricting the work of the heart valves to properly open and close, much like in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy hearts. Research assumes they exist in the heart and are not found until symptoms from disease progress causing maybe heart failure or CHF. Our Cooper had two echos in the first five years of his life and neither showed evidence of heart disease. So, it is possible that it can develop later in life and NOT be present at birth. There is little data on progression of the disease, the effect on the heart, or about medication to treat the condition, or how well patients respond. Typically, vets prescribe medications to treat symptoms.
Google ebook: Feline Cardiomyopathy
"Excessive moderator
bands (false tendons) are prominent muscular bands that cross from the
interventricular septum to the left vent free wall...etiology is unknown."
They may be present due to forms of heart disease. Signs may be
similar to other heart disease symptoms-congestion, lethargy, left heart
failure including tachypnea. Endomyocardial fibrosis may be confused with
moderator bands because it also has large bands bridging left ventricle from
the papillary muscle to the interventricular septum. Standard heart therapy
medications are used to treat symptoms such as congestion."
"Excessive
numbers of moderator bands bridging the left ventricular septum and free wall
and entangling papillary muscles were associated with heart failure and death
in 21 cats. Clinical findings included dyspnea, anorexia, hypothermia,
cardiomegaly, pleural effusion, plumonary edema, heart murmurs, gallop rhythm,
electrocardiographic abnormalities (especially conduction disturbances),
increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, angiocardiographic evidence
of left ventricular restriction, and aortic thromboembolism. Pathologic changes
included a morphologically distinct network of abnormal numbers of moderator
bands in the left ventricle, left ventricular hypertrophy (younger cats--mean
age, 4 years) or dilatation (older cats--mean age, 8.7 years), left atrial
enlargement and hypertrophy, and pulmonary edema with heart failure cells in
the alveoli. Heart weights of affected cats were significantly less than those
of cats with congestive, hypertrophic, and restrictive cardiomyopathy
(endocardial fibrosis), but were not significantly less than heart weights of
clinically normal cats. Pathologic changes were characteristic of the syndrome
grossly and histologically, but clinical findings were not clearly
definable."
"Cardiomyopathy
associated with abnormal trabecular bands of tissue traversing one or both
ventricles is reported rarely in cats. The case of a 9-year-old cat which
presented in congestive heart failure is reported. Multiple cardiac
abnormalities were found, including a large trabecular tissue bridge which
bisected the left ventricle. Other findings included arrhythmia,
thrombocytopaenia and raised serum creatine kinase. The cat was euthanased due
to clinical deterioration. Necropsy findings included increased cardiac weight,
the division of the left ventricle by a large trabecular band composed of
connective tissue and cardiac myofibres consistent with a moderator band,
nodular thickening of the mitral valve, left atrial dilation, and
fibroplasia/fibrosis of the left ventricular myocardium associated with
widespread myofibre necrosis due to infarction. Pathological findings in this
case differ from previous reports of ventricular transverse bridging tissue in
cats with cardiac disease."
Damage to the Heart
As
heart disease progresses, the actual structure of the heart changes and heart
function is affected. Thickened muscle walls as in hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy become less flexible, and the left ventricle can no longer relax
or stretch efficiently to fill with blood. Moderator Band
Cardiomyopathy may
cause some thickening of the walls or may appear to thicken the walls because
they attach themselves between walls, thereby adding an extra layer of tissue.
This too, impairs the heart's ability to contract and therefore, push and
circulate the body's volume of fluid. This can lead to congestion, the
formation of clots, and low blood pressure.
These changes can
create a heart murmur because the heart valves don't grow as the heart muscle
enlarges. Some cats will develop a heart murmur that is caused by
SAM-systolic anterior motion in the mitral valve. When a heart murmur is
present, it usually can be heard and that is when the vet will recommend
further testing to rule out the cause of the murmur. Some cats will have
heart murmurs that are stress related but the majority of heart murmurs are
heart disease related. Any known heart murmur must be properly diagnosed
so that treatment can begin in time. Do NOT go by what a vet may say
about the "size" of a murmur, that it is "only" a 1 or 2
or...and can be ignored or that the size means that heart disease isn't
present. The size of the murmur is not indicative of the extent of heart
disease nor a sign of the type of disease present. And since it can be stress
related, may not even indicate the presence of heart disease. A visit to
a cardiologist for xrays and an echo will be needed.
As the heart muscle
walls thicken, as the heart beats, not all of the body's fluid (blood and
water) can be taken into the valve when the heart valve opens. As the
heart valve closes, the extra or remaining fluid backs up into the lungs or
chest cavity, leading to congestion or congestive heart failure. This is
a dangerous time as the congestion leads to breathing difficulty. Left
too long, with the cat in breathing distress, the lungs will fill with fluid
and the cat will die of the inability to breathe.
As the heart is
beating, and after the valve has opened to receive the body's fluid, the heart
valve closes and then opens again. This process of opening the valve means it
is pushing out the fluid it took in, causing the fluid to go into circulation
in the body. As the heart walls thicken due to disease, there is less
ability for the heart to pump out of the valve the fluid, leading to blood
pooling in the valves. This pooling blood can lead to the creation of clots
which can break away from the interior of the heart and block an artery in
either the heart-leading to a heart attack-or a leg, either of which will be
painful and potentially deadly (clots may settle in other arteries but the
heart and legs are the most likely in cats.)
Diagnosis of Heart
Disease
If heart disease is
suspected, a visit to a vet cardiologist is necessary. The cardiologist
will take xrays to look at the condition of the lungs and to see if the lungs
are congested. The size of the heart can also be noted on the xrays but
only if the heart is thickened enough as to enlarge it. The cardiologist
will perform an echo or ultrasound which will show how well the heart is
functioning, if there are clots, how thick any valves may be, and how extensive
is the damage to the heart, and which type of heart disease is present.
Blood work known as a CBC/chem panel must be done to see what is
the overall health of the body and the effect of heart disease on the
body.
While there is a
blood test to test for an HCM gene, the test does not indicate whether HCM or
other heart disease is present at a given moment, only that it is genetically
possible. Nor does a blood test tell of the extent of the damage if
disease is present. An echo is needed even if the gene test is positive.
Since the blood test is expensive, unless an owner intends to breed with
the cat, the owner-if worried about a cat having heart disease-should see a
cardiologist for xrays and an echo.
Treatment Options for
Cats with Heart Disease
There are many
different types of medications that can be given to a cat depending on severity
of the disease.
Lasix is a diuretic and is necessary to rid the body of
extra fluid and to control the level of fluid in the body. Will help prevent or
decrease the ability of CHF to form and will aid in the breathing function.
ACE inhibitors
such as enalapril, slow the heart rate and lower
blood pressure and keep blood veins from being constricted.
Beta blockers such
as atenolol slow the heart rate and help lower
blood pressure.
Plavix and aspirin act as blood thinners
which decreases the chance of a blood clot forming; thinner blood lessens the
work of the heart.
Spironolactone acts as a diuretic and helps
to preserve much needed potassium which is necessary for kidney function.
A cat with heart
disease and which is on meds, needs a good overall vitamin made for cats.
Other supplements
that aid in heart health are amino acids (those formulated only for cats),
and COQ10. Potassium
supplements (cats may take almost any form made for humans but
check the brand or type with your vet) will increase the blood potassium levels
that usually fall due to the much needed lasix. The vet will do a CBC/chem blood panel from time to time to
check the body's function and overall health as well as the effects of
medications on the liver and kidneys. The results should always be
reviewed with the vet and any levels too high (hyper) or too low (hypo) should
be discussed.
Other
Types of Heart Disease
Dilated
cardiomyopathy results in heart chambers that are dilated in size.
It was once a common heart disease in cats and was caused by a lack
of taurine in a cat's diet. Once commercial cat food was made with
taurine, the disease almost disappeared. Now it is rarely seen. If
diagnosed, it is either due to homemade diets that lack taurine or could still
be possibly genetic. Cats with dilated cardiomyopathy that is due to
taurine deficiency generally respond well to supplementation with taurine but
any damage that was caused may not be reversible. Drugs used to treat
dilated cardiomyopathy are similar to those used in hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy.
In restrictive
cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle in the ventricle of the cat contains a
large amount of fibrosis or scarred tissue. This results in the
ventricles being stiffer than normal, making it more difficult for them to
contract normally. This leads to a failure of the heart's ability to pump blood
effectively. Symptoms of restrictive cardiomyopathy in cats are similar
to those seen with other cardiomyopathies. But usually, RCM cats get
congestion in the chest cavity as well as the lungs and must have fluid
withdrawn from the body. They may be given many of the same drugs as with
HCM.
Arrhythmogenic
right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a form of cardiomyopathy that
affects the right side of the heart. Symptoms are those of right-sided heart
failure, including ascites (fluid in the abdominal cavity) and swelling in the
legs. An arrhythmia (abnormal heart rate or rhythm) may also be
present.
University of Minnesota has a great site for information about heart disease with definitions and 3D graphics.
Knowing
and using medical terms will help you better discuss issues with the vet:
A
pet owner must be aware of many things affecting a cat that has heart disease:
Different
types of congestion may occur in cats with heart disease:
Pulmonary
edema-fluid
buildup in the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may
cause respiratory failure.
Treatment is focused on three aspects: improving respiratory function, treating
the underlying cause, and avoiding damage to the lung. Pulmonary edema,
especially in the acute setting, can lead to respiratory failure,
cardiac arrest due to hypoxia and death. Low oxygen saturation and disturbed arterial blood gas readings
support the proposed diagnosis. Echos may strengthen the
diagnosis by demonstrating impaired left ventricular function, high central venous
pressures and high pulmonary artery pressures. The causes
of pulmonary edema can be divided into cardiogenic and non-cardiogenic. By
convention cardiogenic refers to left ventricular causes. Non-cardiogenic
are varied and can include hypertensive due to a combination of increased
pressures in the right ventricle and
pulmonary circulation and also increased systemic vascular
resistance and left ventricle contractility increasing the hydrostatic pressure within
the pulmonary capillaries leading
to extravasation of
fluid and edema. Patient is given oxygen and
diuretics and other heart meds to manage any heart conditions and to stabilize
the heart.
Pleural
effusion-fluid
buildup around the lungs in the pleural cavity, easier to aspirate-withdraw
with a needle. This procedure is done every few weeks. The cat will feel better
for 2-3 weeks before beginning to feel poorly again, at which point, the cat
needs to see the vet again. Symptoms might include coughing,
difficult breathing, increased rate of breathing, cat cannot sit comfortably,
and may or may not have open mouth breathing. Might also have a lack of
energy and a lack of appetite.
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