Feline Dilated Cardiomyopathy
After reading the sad post about the passing of Bill, I thought this might be of some interest.
In dilated cardiomyopathy, the left muscular wall of the ventricle of the
heart becomes weak, which causes the left chamber of the heart to dilate.
This also interferes with the heart's ability to do its job adequately,
leading to heart failure. It also allows the formation of blood clots in
the heart which can then make their way into the circulation and cause
problems, such sudden weakness or loss of use of the rear limbs or sudden
death.
Dilated cardiomyopathy was very common until it was discovered to be the
result of taurine deficiency in most cats in which it occurred. When cat
food companies increased the taurine levels in their foods, this condition
nearly disappeared, but not quite completely. There are still some cases,
which may result from strong genetic predisposition to the problem, from
toxins (chemotherapy drugs can cause cardiomyopathy), as a rare effect of
hyperthyroidism and in cats who fend for themselves or are fed diets
deficient in taurine. In cats in which taurine deficiency is not present,
the prognosis for dilated cardiomyopathy is reported to be poor, with very
few cats living longer than six months (Scherding, "The Cat: Diseases and
Clinical Management).
