Heart disease is a fairly common ailment in
the dog and cat, however their symptoms differ dramatically in both species.
With this article I hope to make owners more aware of this condition in the
hope that it might help clients manage this condition in their pets.
The most common heart disease in dogs is a
due to disease of the valves between the different heart chambers. The clinical
signs vary depending on which sets of valves is affected. The function of the
heart is to pump blood around the body, taking oxygen and nutrients to all the
cells in the body and at the same time removing carbon dioxide and waste
products. If the blood does not circulate properly around the body then
clinical disease follows quickly as a result of this.
If the valves in the heart are defective
then the pump mechanism is defective, an analogy I like to make to explain this
is to imagine pumping up a bicycle tyre but with a pump that is defective, if
the pump is slightly defective then you will be able to pump the tyre up but
with more effort. If the pump has a serious defect then it is almost impossible
to inflate the tyre.
The most common presenting clinical sign
that the dog presents with is a cough. Cough tends to be a low grade cough and
always when the dog is at rest, often a client just remarks that their dog has
had a tickly type of cough at night for several weeks. These clinical signs are
associated with a valvular disease in the left hand side of the heart.
Less commonly a dog presents with a swollen
abdomen, this is as a result of fluid accumulation in the peritoneal cavity as
a result of valvular problems in the right hand side of the heart.
Treatment of this type of heart disease are
developed in leaps and bounds, now we have medications that improve cardiac
contractility, decrease the work the heart has to make, and medications that
slow down the degenerative process in the heart valves. With these advances the
prognosis for dogs with heart disease is excellent, however this is dependent
on early diagnosis and treatment and owner compliance as the dog will need a
plethora of tablets daily for the rest of its life. Also be prepared to adjust
treatment, sometimes you have to play about with different treatment regimes
until we find one that is right for your pet.
Cat heart disease is a totally different kettle
of fish, unfortunately cats do not give us a lovely clinical outward sign like
a cough. The main presenting sign is respiratory distress, cyanosis ( watch out
for a blue tongue) and malaise, at this stage disease is often difficult to
manage and treat as the heart failure is at a very advanced stage. Cats
commonly develop fluid around the lungs when they have heart failure, this
compresses the lungs causing collapse and rapid death. Treatment necessitates
the draining of this fluid and then cardiac therapy. I would urge all owners,
especially of elderly cats to have an annual health check, an experienced
veterinarian will be able to pick up heart disease early, with adequate
medication the heart disease can be managed and your cat can have a long and
healthy life.
This article is just a simplified overview
of heart disease but with major pointers on what to look out for. Observing
your pet and watching it breath is a great simple way of monitoring heart
conditions, there is a phone App, Cardialis, this helps in measuring your pet’s
breathing rate and is simple to use. Get accustomed to placing your hand gently
on your pet’s heart and get used to its normal rate and rhythm, when you feel
there might be an anomaly then get it checked. The sooner we get to treating
the diseased heart the better the prognosis and the longer it will be around
putting a smile on your face.
