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Does early growth
affect Hypertrophic
Cardiomyopathy in
adult cats?
This retrospective study on 28 adult cats of various breeds showed that
left ventricular hypertrophy was related to early growth patterns.
Nutritional
Insights
C
ats’ early nutrition and growth may interact with
their genetic predisposition for hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy (HCM) and modify their
phenotypic expression of this disease. To better
understand the relationship between early
growth and HCM, the objective of this study was to assess
echocardiographic findings in a colony of adult cats with
respect to their early growth patterns and metabolic variables.
Twenty eight adult colony cats over 3 years of age, with
recorded growth curves during their first year of life, were
included in this study. The
population consisted of
20 males and 8 females,
all neutered, from various
breeds: Domestic short/
longhair (n=11), Birman
(n=5), Somali (n=4), Maine
Coon (n=4), Siamese (n=2),
Exotic shorthair (n=1), and
Sphynx (n=1). The median
age was 5.3 years, ranging
from 3.2 to 6.8 years. Body
condition scores ranged from
4 to 9 (median 5.5) and body weight at the time of the study
ranged from 2.7 to 7.2 kg (median 4.8kg).
A clinical examination and echocardiography were performed
on all cats as well as body weight, body condition score (on a
9-point scale), and head length and width were assessed. Blood
analysis including circulating glucose, insulin, NT pro-BNP* and
insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) was also carried out.
The following cardiac abnormalities were detected: cardiac
murmur (n=7), gallop (n=3) and arrhythmia (n=1). 50% of
cats (14/28) had echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular
hypertrophy. These findings of left ventricular hypertrophy
were significantly associated (p<0.05) with bodyweight at 6
and 12 months, head width at adulthood, as well as circulating
concentrations of NT-pro-BNP and IGF-1. Left ventricular
hypertrophy was common in this population, affecting 50%
of adult cats. The results revealed an association between
echocardiographic findings and the growth patterns such as
heavier body weight at 6 and 12 months of age.
v
Freeman LM, Rush JE, Feugier A, van Hoek I.
Early growth is related
to metabolic markers and cardiac hypertrophy in cats. Proc. of the
WINSS 2013; October 1-4, Portland, Oregon (USA), 87
* NT pro-BNP is a biomarker that can be used as an evaluation tool
for cardiac disease.
By Dr Louis Boag, Royal Canin South Africa
Regulars
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Royal Canin page
He then borrowed a car from one of
the other staff members, but soon
enough the baboons got to know his
uniform with all those shining stars
and stripes. The camp staff in Skukuza
found this hilarious: “The speedcop
can’t even ticket a baboon!”, the story
went around. He then had to dress in
plain clothes, but the baboons were
on to that too and the people laughed
even more. Eventually, he perfected
the use of a large wire cage trap,
baited with fruit and baboon delicacies.
The baboons could not resist the
temptation and he caught entire troops
of troublemakers. He basked in the
success and told everybody how
wrong they had been to mock him and
praise the clever baboons.
Then another big tourist camp in the
park asked him to repeat the excercise
in that camp’s vicinity. So he loaded
the big wire cage trap on the back
of a bakkie (light truck) and drove to
that camp. On the way, he needed
to get something from his luggage
which was placed inside the cage trap
because of lack of space... And yes...
it happened: The trap door fell shut
and he caught himself!
Eventually he had to ask help from a
passing official and the story was out:
The traffic cop had caught himself in
his own trap!
v
To be continued in the June issue of
VetNews
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