Feeding for Two: Nutrition for the Cardiac Patient with Concurrent Diseases

摘要

More and more, nutrition is becoming an integral component of medical therapy. In many diseases, including cardiac disease, nutrition can not only make the patient feel better but also can help to modulate the disease. Therefore, it is incumbent on the veterinary healthcare team to make specific nutritional recommendations for all animals with cardiac disease. Although there are diets marketed for dogs with cardiac disease (none for cats), there is not a single diet that is appropriate for all dogs with cardiac disease. Instead, we must view animals as individuals and to feed them appropriately according to the underlying disease and individual patient characteristics. Not all patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), for example, are the same or require the same diet. Some dogs with CHF will be overweight and some will have lost weight and muscle, some will be hypokalemic while others will be hyperkalemic, and a small number will be taurine deficient while most are not. Therefore, the same diet will not meet the requirements of all dogs with CHF. Cats with cardiac disease can be even more challenging because of their unique nutritional needs.