Practice News
 Valentine's Day, hearts (no flowers, sorry.)Monday 25th January, 2010
We are surrounded by Hearts around Valentine’s Day so it’s a good time to raise awareness of heart disease in our pets….
Just like humans, the heart of your pet is often the first thing that wears out. But pets do not develop plaques in the blood vessels of their heart (arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease) so they do not get heart attacks.
Like all mammals, dogs and cats have a four-chambered heart. It consisting of a left and right upper chambered atrium and a left and right lower chambered ventricle. Between each of these chambers are one way valves which ensure blood flows in the correct direction.
What Signs Would I See If My Pet Had A Heart Problem?
The first sign that most owners notice is a cough. This is because enlarged, failing hearts allow fluid to back up into the lungs and also press on the wind pipe.
Other signs you may notice in your pet are tiredness, rapid breathing, poor appetite, an enlarged tummy, pale or bluish gums, and a rapid, weak pulse. Fainting is less common.
What Might My Vet Hear Through A Stethoscope?
Many of these pets have heart murmurs. Heart murmurs come about when a passage through the heart becomes too narrow or too wide –causing turbulent blood flow. In middle aged or older adult cats and dogs this usually means that a valve is not working properly. It may not be closing sufficiently or it may not be opening sufficiently. In younger pets, a murmur might mean that the heart did not develop properly.
What Tests Might My Vet Perform?
If your vet is suspicious that your dog might have a heart problem, the first test we traditionally do is an x-ray. If the x-ray shows an enlarged heart, your veterinarian may be satisfied with that and begin treatment.
If it is unclear if the heart is enlarged or if the heart is even the source of your pet's problems, a blood test might be ordered. This test is especially useful in cats when we are not sure if the cat has a lung problem, asthma or a heart problem.
Other tests that your vet might perform are echocardiograph (doppler ultrasound) to see the heart perform in real time, and an ECG to check if the electrical system of the heart is functioning normally.
What Are Some Of The Effects Of A Failing Heart?
In dogs, the valves are often the first heart structures that are affected. Heart disease in cats usually involves the entire heart muscle and not just the valves.
Dogs let us know early that there is a problem. But we are often unaware that our 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.
In all cases of heart disease in dogs and cats, as the circulatory system fails, the kidneys liver and all other organs are flooded with stagnant blood and work inefficiently. This is because they do not get the oxygen they need.
Heart Problems That Affect Both Dogs And Cats:
The heart is like your 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 and becomes more rounded, the heart is not able to perform any of its tasks well.
No matter what the underlying heart problem is, CHF is usually the end result.
All pets with CHF have an enlarged heart. As the disease progresses, the normal triangular shape of the heart becomes rounded. This is very noticeable on an x-ray.
What can be done to help my pet?:
Thankfully early detection and diagnosis means we can slow the progression of your pet’s heart disease and usually significantly prolong their life expectancy and quality of life by prescribing appropriate medication.
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