Heart disease

The old maxim 'A healthy pet is a happy pet' still holds true. Keeping your pet healthy is an important part of pet ownership. The heart is at the centre of health. However because it is so important the heart has a huge reserve capacity that means that animals can cope with quite severe impairment to heart function whilst showing few obvious signs of illness. Your partner in caring for your pet should be your vet. Regular visits to a vet for routine health checks and preventative health care such as vaccination allow you and your pet to build a relationship with your vet. Early detection of heart diseases will allow your vet to give more effective treatments.

Modern pets are living longer than their predecessors and as a result heart disease is becoming increasingly common in dogs and cats. Some animals are born with defects of the heart - these can cause problems in young animals but often do not cause signs until later in life. Many heart diseases develop as animals get older due to the effects of damage or ageing on the heart.