Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Atenolol effects on quality of life and activity in cats with heart
By Coleman, A E et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary cardiology : the official journal of the European Society of Veterinary Cardiology·2020·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Atenolol in cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial of effect on quality of life, activity, and cardiac biomarkers.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 32 cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were studied to see how their quality of life and activity levels compared to healthy cats. Owners reported that the cats with HCM had lower daily activity scores, but there was no significant difference in overall activity levels between the two groups. When treated with atenolol, a common heart medication, there were improvements in heart rate, but it did not seem to help with quality of life or activity levels. Overall, atenolol did not show benefits for cats with subclinical HCM in this study.
People also search for: cat heart disease treatment · atenolol for cats · hypertrophic cardiomyopathy symptoms in cats
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare quality of life (QOL) and activity measures between healthy control cats and cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and to evaluate the effect of oral atenolol therapy on QOL, activity, and circulating biomarkers in cats with subclinical HCM. ANIMALS: Thirty-two client-owned cats with subclinical HCM and 27 healthy control cats. METHODS: Owner responses to a QOL questionnaire, circulating cardiac biomarker concentrations, and accelerometer-based activity measures were compared prospectively in cats with and without HCM, and in cats with HCM before and after treatment with oral atenolol (6.25 mg/cat q 12 h) for 6 months. RESULTS: Owner-assessed activity of daily living score was lower in cats with HCM than in cats in controls (p=0.0420). No differences were identified between control cats and cats with HCM for any activity variable. Compared with placebo, treatment with atenolol was associated with a lower baseline-adjusted mean ± SD heart rate (157 ± 30 vs. 195 ± 20 bpm; p=0.0001) and rate-pressure product (22,446 ± 6,237 vs. 26,615 ± 4,623 mmHg/min; p=0.0146). A treatment effect of atenolol on QOL or activity was not demonstrated. CONCLUSIONS: This study failed to identify an effect of subclinical HCM on owner-assessed QOL or activity or a treatment effect of atenolol on these variables at the dosage evaluated. These findings do not support a treatment benefit of atenolol for the goal of symptom reduction in cats with subclinical HCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32707333/