Prevalence of cardiomyopathy and cardiac mortality in a colony of non-purebred cats in New Zealand.

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dc.citation.volumeAhead of Print
dc.contributor.authorSeo J
dc.contributor.authorOwen R
dc.contributor.authorHunt H
dc.contributor.authorLuis Fuentes V
dc.contributor.authorConnolly DJ
dc.contributor.authorMunday JS
dc.coverage.spatialEngland
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-21T02:05:23Z
dc.date.available2024-10-21T02:05:23Z
dc.date.issued2024-09-29
dc.description.abstractAims To evaluate the prevalence of subclinical cardiomyopathy and cardiac mortality in a research colony of non-purebred cats, established as a model of the wider cat population in New Zealand. Methods All apparently healthy, compliant, non-pregnant, non-neonatal cats in the colony at the Centre for Feline Nutrition (Massey University, Palmerston North, NZ) underwent physical examination and echocardiography using a 4.4–6.2-MHz probe by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist. Cardiac phenotype was classified following current guidelines. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) phenotype was defined as an end-diastolic left ventricular wall thickness ≥ 6 mm. Colony mortality data from February 2012 to February 2022 was reviewed to determine cardiac mortality. Results Cats (n = 132; 65 females and 67 males) included in the study had a median age of 4.1 (IQR 3.0–8.0) years. Thirty-two (24%) cats had a heart murmur, and three (2%) cats had an arrhythmia. Echocardiography revealed heart disease in 24 (18.2%) cats, including 23 with an HCM phenotype and one with a restrictive cardiomyopathy phenotype. Of the cats with the HCM phenotype, 3/23 had systemic hypertension or hyperthyroidism or both, and these cats were excluded from the final diagnosis of HCM (20/132; 15.2 (95% CI = 9.5–22.4)%). Between 2012 and 2022, 168 colony cats died, with 132 undergoing post-mortem examination. Heart disease was considered the cause of death in 7/132 (5.3%; 95% CI = 2.2–10.6%) cats; five had HCM, one a congenital heart defect, and one myocarditis. The overall prevalence of death related to HCM in the colony during this period was 3.8% (95% CI = 1.2–8.6%). Three cats with HCM and the cat with a congenital heart defect died unexpectedly without prior clinical signs, while congestive heart failure was observed prior to death in two cats with HCM and the cat with myocarditis. Additionally, 30/132 (22.7%) cats had cardiac abnormalities but died for non-cardiac reasons. Conclusions Subclinical cardiomyopathy, specifically HCM, was common in cats in the colony. Given that the colony originated as a convenience selection of non-purebred cats in New Zealand, the true prevalence of HCM in the wider New Zealand population is likely to fall within the 95% CI (9.5–22%). The proportion of deaths of colony cats due to HCM was lower (3.8%) supporting the conclusion that subclinical cardiomyopathy may not progress to clinical disease causing death. Clinical relevance Veterinarians should be aware of the high prevalence of subclinical HCM when treating cats. Abbreviations CAM: Systolic anterior motion of the chordae tendineae; CFN: Centre for Feline Nutrition; HCM: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; LA/Ao: Left atrial to aortic ratio; LV FS: Left ventricular fractional shortening; LVIDd: Left ventricular internal diameters in end-diastole; LVIDs: Left ventricular internal diameter in end-systole; LVWT: Max Maximum left ventricular wall thickness; SAM: Systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve; 2D: Two-dimensional
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.editionSep 2024
dc.format.pagination1-9
dc.identifier.author-urlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/39343434
dc.identifier.citationSeo J, Owen R, Hunt H, Luis Fuentes V, Connolly DJ, Munday JS. (2024). Prevalence of cardiomyopathy and cardiac mortality in a colony of non-purebred cats in New Zealand.. N Z Vet J. Ahead of Print. (pp. 1-9).
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/00480169.2024.2404684
dc.identifier.eissn1176-0710
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn0048-0169
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/71783
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherTaylor and Francis Group
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00480169.2024.2404684?scroll=top&needAccess=true
dc.relation.isPartOfN Z Vet J
dc.rights(c) 2024 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY-NC-ND 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectHypertrophic cardiomyopathy
dc.subjectcardiac screening
dc.subjectcardiomyopathies
dc.subjectfeline
dc.subjectheart murmur
dc.subjectsudden death
dc.titlePrevalence of cardiomyopathy and cardiac mortality in a colony of non-purebred cats in New Zealand.
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id491823
pubs.organisational-groupCollege of Health
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