If you’re a cat owner, one of the most frightening things a vet can tell you is that your pet has heart disease. It’s easy to assume the worst. However, knowing what to do if your cat is diagnosed with heart disease can cut the level of drama. It recently helped me more carefully evaluate the health of one of our rescue cats.
What is Feline Heart Disease?
Heart disorders in cats fall into one of two categories, according to PetMD. Those present at birth are considered congenital. Those that develop later are called acquired. The ones vets see most frequently are heart muscle dysfunction and cardiomyopathy. Congestive heart failure is often the end result in many cases of heart disease.
As a cat rescuer, I seldom encounter a week when I don’t need to visit the vet. I dropped off a long-haired black-and-white former feral for a routine exam and immunizations. The three-year old cat had lived inside our home most of her life yet, like many females born outside, still acted feral.
My long-standing veterinarian had sold the practice. A new vet on duty had never seen the cat. When I returned to pay the bill and pick up the animal, the vet said she needed to talk with me right away. She asked me how long the cat — who had never had any health problems — had been afflicted with cardiomyopathy. She handed me a brochure from a veterinary cardiologist and told me I needed to get the cat there as soon as possible.
This alarming pronouncement didn’t sit right. When I asked her how she envisioned such an appointment would work, given that the cat couldn’t be easily handled and could never be medicated by mouth, she suggested I find her a more suitable home.
Option #1: Get More Information
Because I knew that cardiomyopathy is a frequent cause of sudden death in adult indoor cats, I realized this was a pretty serious diagnosis. I was shocked, and it took me a few hours to decide what to do next.
Option 1 was researching the disorder. I found that it involves a thickening of the ventricles in the cat’s heart. The affected heart wall gets weaker and less elastic, and the chambers become smaller, WebMD states. Treatment is available and usually involves medications and dietary changes.
I also learned that vets can offer a number of treatments for heart disease in cats. Medications, surgery, and technology such as pacemakers are readily available. Sometimes dietary changes make a big difference. I was now convinced that the diagnosis was not as tragic as it had seemed.
Option #2: Getting Additional Opinions
My second step was finding other vets to evaluate the cat. I tracked down the vet who had sold her practice and shared the new vet’s exam findings and conclusions. She quickly emailed me that she had seen none of these symptoms and advised me to forget a cardiologist for now.
She also encouraged me to have at least one other vet confirm the symptoms. I contacted several other rescuers. One vet’s name appeared on all their lists. He examined the cat and found no signs of heart disease. He called over another colleague on duty, who also detected no symptoms. I now use this practice for all our rescue needs, and this cat’s records are marked to always check her for any cardiac symptoms.
Option #3: The Tufts Assessment
Assuming a cat does indeed have heart disease, the owner can ask the vet to contact the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University for a copy of a new assessment.
The name of the survey is Cats’ Assessment Tool for Cardiac Health (CATCH). This tool provides a guide to the cat’s quality of life and helps an owner make important decisions about diet, treatment, or terminating the cat’s life.
Fortunately, nearly two years later, our cat shows no sign of cardiac problems. When they do occur, they’re not always tragic. Knowing what to do if your cat is diagnosed with heart disease can make a difficult time less stressful.
Sources:
http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2012/july/heart_disease_in_pets#.UA1eK6N0ioU
http://pets.webmd.com/cats/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy-cats
http://cgi.vet.tufts.edu/clinical_trials/projects/cats_assessment_tool_for_cardiac_health_catch_questionnaire_in_cats_with_congestive_heart_failure
Personal experience
