Researching Feline Disease

Cats may be able to escape injuries from falls, but many suffer from serious diseases, such as feline leukemia; infectious peritonitis, an inflammation of the membrane that lines the walls of the abdomen; and panleukopenia (cat distemper). Since the mid-1980's, veterinary researchers have made great strides in understanding two other major diseases: a type of heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy and a type of AIDS that strikes only cats.

For years, dilated cardiomyopathy was recognized as a significant cause of death of pet cats in the United States. This disease is characterized by enlargement and weakening of the heart to the point where it is incapable of pumping blood. Until 1987, the cause of the disease was unknown, and veterinarians could offer no cure. In 1987, veterinarians Paul Pion and Mark Kittleson and their colleagues at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine reported that cats suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy had a deficiency of an amino acid called taurine. (Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.) Giving the cats taurine supplements reversed the disease and led to a full recovery.

Before the California study, cat specialists had thought that taurine deficiencies occurred only in cats fed commercial dog food or home-cooked food that was nutritionally unbalanced. But the California veterinarians discovered that cats fed exclusively with some types of commercial cat food could develop the heart disease. Since the 1987 study, manufacturers of the cat foods have added more taurine to their products, and there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of cases of the disease.