A Hong Kong-based Taiwanese veterinarian advised pet owners to take their cats for regular checkups to prevent the onset of heart disease, saying that the condition is difficult to detect and often causes death in cats.
Lethargy is a sign of heart problems in animals, but cats tend to be less active by nature, making it more difficult to notice when they have a problem, veterinarian Yeh Shih-ping (葉士平) said.
Regular checkups and preventative medication are advised for cats to lower their risk of heart disease, and enable early detection and treatment, he said.
Photo: Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
In his book Animal Doctor (動物醫生), Yeh, who uses the pen name “Dr Eason,” said that heart disease is one of the biggest health threats for domesticated cats.
Heart disease is more of a risk to cats than dogs, as cats tend to sleep for most of the day and are rarely let outdoors to engage in physical activity, he said, adding that this lack of activity means that owners are more likely to overlook physiological changes in their pet and miss the early-treatment window.
Research by veterinary scientists in the US has shown that about 16 percent of domesticated cats develop heart disease, with the condition often leading to thrombosis or sudden death, he said.
The most common heart condition that cats develop is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, in which part of the heart grows thicker and becomes less able to pump blood, he said, adding that the Maine coon, American shorthair and Persian breeds are more likely to develop this condition.
Many pet owners dismiss preventative medicine as a waste of time and simply a source of torment for cats, focusing on how frightened their cat becomes when taken to the vet, he said, adding that avoiding vet visits is a lost opportunity to prevent health problems.
With dogs, veterinarians use a stethoscope to check for a heart murmur and determine whether a dog has heart disease, but more tests are needed for cats, veterinarian Lu Tai-li (盧大立) said.
The reason is that heart murmurs are inconsistent in cats, and the presence of a murmur is not always a sign of heart disease for cats, Lu added.
About 80 percent of fatal conditions in cats are due to heart attacks, he said, adding that in most cases surgery is unnecessary.
Younger cats can get by with annual checkups and preventative shots, while those aged eight or older should have checkups every six months, Lu said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS