| Heart disease is common in dogs and cats. Up to 15% of younger dogs have heart disease.1,2 The risk of heart disease increases dramatically with age; 60% of dogs may have heart disease. 1,2 With an aging population the incidence of heart disease will continue to increase. For cats, heart disease is often a "silent" killer and therefore may go undiagnosed until it is too late. The exact rate of heart disease in cats is not known, but has been estimated to be as high as 15%.3 Frequently, by the time an animal is seen by a cardiac specialist the animal has significantly advanced stages of heart disease at which point intervention does little to alter the course of disease. Heart disease, like other disease states, has a better clinical outcome for the animal when diagnosis and therapy are initiated early. Signs of Heart Disease
The signs of heart disease can be subtle and easily mistaken for changes associated with aging. You should watch for any of the following signs in your pet:
• Reluctance to exercise or play
• Overly tired or lethargic
• Breathlessness or difficulty breathing
• Coughing
• Collapsing or fainting Some signs of heart disease can only be detected by a veterinarian as part of a thorough examination. These include:
• Gallop rhythm (in cats)
• Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
• Audible sounds between the heartbeat (murmur) While there is no cure for heart disease, early detection can make a significant difference in your pet's quality of life. Affect on Pets
Dogs and cats are most commonly diagnosed with one of three cardiac conditions: .jpg)
Mitral Valve Disease (MVD) The most common type of heart disease in dogs, an important valve becomes leaky and allows blood to flow through the heart in the wrong direction. Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) Also common in dogs, the heart's muscle becomes weak, reducing the heart's effectiveness to pump. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) More common in cats, this disease is characterized by thickening of the heart's muscle, making it an ineffective pump. Biomarker: B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (pBNP) pBNP is the pro-hormone fragment produced when pro-BNP is cleaved to generate the active hormone called BNP. Both of these analytes are from a family of natriuretic peptides. Natriuretic peptides are well documented in their endocrine role and function. In human clinical diagnostics, both BNP and pBNP are proven cardiac biomarkers and used clinically in the USA routinely for symptomatic patients. Studies with BNP in dogs have demonstrated similar results to that of human diagnostics. And while BNP is not species specific, the half-life of BNP in dogs is a mere 90 seconds making BNP testing suboptimal and impractical. pBNP is species specific rendering human pBNP tests un-reactive to canine or feline pBNP. pBNP is often elevated in a variety of cardiac conditions; its presence is an indication of cardiac wall stress. Cardiomyocytes when stretched begin synthesis of preproBNP which is cleaved into the targeted pBNP. The presence of pBNP indicates cardiac involvement with the degree of elevation correlating to the severity of disease progression. Use of pBNP pBNP has been found to be an effective diagnostic test for detecting heart disease early, often before clinical signs appear.Request the pBNP test when you order blood work as part of your cardiac workup - For cats- Screen for occult hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and all cardiac-suspect patients.
- For dogs- Test all dogs presenting with a murmur and all cardiac-suspect patients.
IMPORTANT: IDEXX Reference Laboratories is the exclusive provider of the pBNP test for dogs and cats. For more information on how to order CardioPet™ (pBNP), call (888) 433-9987 or click on the box below:
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