Pet owners should take their pets to have periodic physical checkups, as cats and dogs aged seven or older could easily get fatal heart diseases, the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office said.
The office cited Ruifang Animal Shelter veterinarian Wang Yan-hsu (王嚴?) as saying that prevention trumps cure, urging pet owners to periodically bring young cats and dogs to veterinary hospitals for congenital heart defect screening tests and physical examinations.
Dogs’ diets should consist of good proteins, omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables and fruit, based on the low-sodium, nutritional balance principle, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Siraya National Scenic Area Administration
Cats should be fed with whole foods containing taurine, which is abundant in chicken, pork liver and tuna, L-carnitine — mostly found in beef and fish — fish oil and coenzyme Q10, Wang said.
To reduce cardiac stress for pets, owners must control their pets’ body weight and avoid intensive exercise or emotional stress, he was quoted as saying.
Pet owners should also keep a clean living environment by removing standing water to minimize the risk of pets contracting heartworm disease transmitted by mosquitoes, Wang said.
Research showed that 50 to 60 percent of stray dogs and 30 percent of house dogs in Taiwan are infected with heartworm disease, the office said.
Heartworm infection would result in right ventricular hypertrophy, valvular diseases, and pulmonary endarteritis or embolism in cats or dogs, seriously affecting their cardiac health, the office quoted Wang as saying.
The treatment of heartworm disease usually includes medications, antithrombotic agents and sometimes taurine supplements to prevent fatal heart diseases, the office said.
The incidence rates of chronic diseases in pets have increased, as they live longer nowadays, so pet owners should arrange regular checkups for them, it said.
Pets with heart disease can live happily and normally as long as their owners follow the vet’s instructions and make periodic appointments, it said, adding that people should not abandon pets that have poor health.
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