[Felvtalk] Grieving, and need to understand about felv

[Amani Oakley]

Marsha

This is same sort of thing that Zander eventually died from at age 7. In his case, it was dilated cardiomyopathy, but the vet also commented on the extensive scar tissue in the heart.

Someone else on the chatline mentioned their FeLV cat died from cardiomyopathy.

Researching this on line (like so many cat-related conditions) shows, once again, how little is known about cats since almost every site you go to just says that most causes of heart disease in cats is unknown. I haven't seen a study, such as the one you are looking for, linking FeLV with heart issues. However, there is information regarding the fact that when the FeLV causes anemia, this can have an effect on the heart rhythm, heart sounds, heart effectiveness, etc. but of course, none of this means that there is necessarily a physical effect on the heart - other than the "thinner" blood causing the heart to not beat properly or need to beat faster to distribute blood which is reduced in its ability to distribute oxygen.


I was able to find one cite http://www.petplace.com/article/cats/diseases-conditions-of-cats/heart-blood-vessels/dilated-cardiomyopathy-in-cats-dcm which set out some causes of dilated cardiomyopathy and include:



Myocarditis (inflammation of the myocardium)

Severe global myocardial ischemia (lack of blood supply to the heart - what Zander had during his FeLV crisis)


It's always possible that the condition is genetic, but given the fact that FeLV can cause such a wide range of conditions such as lymphoma, etc., in the body, I would bet there is a connection with the scar tissue in the heart as well, particularly when one of the possible causes is inflammation of the heart muscle.

Amani

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Marsha
Sent: November-27-15 1:59 PM
To: felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Grieving, and need to understand about felv

Amani, do you know of any references I can look at regarding FeLV effect on the heart?  Brock has restrictive cardiomyopathy, which results from scar tissue or protein deposits in the heart muscle.  The vet thought it could be congenital.  Are there any studies showing percentage of FeLV+ cats with heart damage?

Marsha

On 11/27/2015 12:53 PM, Amani Oakley wrote:

Anne, there is just nothing at all you did wrong. I sympathize completely with your guilt, because I too wish I had known more about Winstrol BEFORE Zander decompensated so badly. I think that because he did, the virus was allowed to continue attacking his body and left scarring on the heart - the cause of his death at 7 years.


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