Abstract
A 7-year-old male cat was referred with a history of sudden dragging of the limbs the previous night. A physical examination revealed open-mouth breathing, cold paraplegic rear limbs, and no palpable femoral pulse. An echocardiograph indicated left ventricular wall thickening, a reduced left ventricular cavity, and left atrial enlargement. The cat showed elevated plasma concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and creatine phosphokinase (CPK). Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) level was also elevated to 95.5 pg/ml. The cat received intensive care for 3 days and medications were continued after discharge. After 28 days of treatment, clinical signs and echocardiographic findings improved. The plasma chemistry showed a decrease in AST, ALT, LDH, and CPK levels, and plasma ANP level had decreased to 38.8 pg/ml. These results indicate that serial measurement of plasma ANP levels may be used to monitor the effectiveness of therapies chosen to treat conditions such as left ventricular hypertrophy.
