Nutritional Management of Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Cardiac disease is one of the most common disorders in both dogs and cats, affecting 11% of all dogs and up to 20% of some feline populations. The goal of nutritional management for animals with cardiac disease was purely symptomatic and focused only on sodiumrestriction. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy currently is the most common form of cardiac disease in cats, but other forms of cardiomyopathy and other diseases also can occur. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) once was one of the most common heart diseases in cats, until the publication of a paper associating feline DCM and taurine deficiency, with reversal of cardiomyopathy following taurine supplementation. Cardiac disease is one of the most common health problems seen in dogs, with approximately 95% of affected dogs having adult-onset. In dogs, small- to mediumsized breeds are predisposed to MMVD, while DCM is the most common cause of congestive heart failure in large-breed dogs.