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Heart Disease The heart is a four
chambered muscle. Its function is to pump blood to all the organs and
cells of the body, thus providing them with nutrients and oxygen, and
removing waste of all types. The heart itself needs
nutrients and oxygen. One nutrient in particular: Taurine is crucial. If
it is missing, the heart will undergo irreversible changes that impede
its function, and eventually result in failure. Feeding you cat a high
quality food can help to prevent this from happening. Cardiac disease is
often heralded by a heart murmur. This most often occurs when one or
more of the heart valves is not working well, and creates turbulence in
the blood flow of the heart. Your veterinarian can diagnose this during
a physical examination and make recommendations for further diagnostics. Most of the time, an
ultrasound of the heart is recommended. This enables a cardiologist to
determine which valve if any is at fault, and what changes the heart has
undergone to make up for the lack of efficiency the valve has caused.
Depending on the results, medication may be prescribed to help the heart
function better, and halt or slow down further structural changes (the
changes initially help the heart work better but eventually get in the
way, just like a weight lifter initially gets stronger, but eventually
can't lower his arms fully anymore). A heart murmur can appear in the healthiest of animals, sometimes in just a few days time. Regular check ups, are crucial in catching a cardiac disease early in order to treat optimally.
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| Office Hours (Veterinarian Available) Mon: 7:00AM - 8:00PM Tues - Thurs: 7:30AM - 8:00PM Fri: 7:00AM - 6:00PM Sat: 8:00AM - 4:00PM Sun: 9:00AM - 11:00AM (Emergency Only) |
