Treatment of blood clots in cats with heart disease

Each year, the Winn Feline Foundation receives proposals from veterinary researchers around the world who are interested in improving feline health. To date, Winn’s cumulative total in feline health research funding exceeds $4 million. Forty-four proposals were submitted by researchers seeking funding in this review cycle. This year, our team of veterinary consultants helped Winn select 10 projects for funding, for a total of $174,018. Here is one of those projects:

W12-037

The efficacy of bosentan, a mixed ETa ETb receptor antagonist, in cats with arterial thromboembolism

Investigators: Elizabeth Rozanski, Gareth Buckley; Tufts University

A Ricky Fund Project

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a very common heart disease in cats. One of the most devastating complications of heart disease is development of blood clots called feline aortic thromboembolism (ATE), which cuts off the blood supply to one or more limbs. ATE is associated with a survival rate of less than 40% despite multiple efforts to try to improve outcomes. It is important to cats and their owners to be able to offer an intervention that improves survival with a good quality of life. Cats are recognized to have “reactive” blood vessels, and this response may worsen the outcome in ATE. The arteries in cats suffering from ATE will release various chemicals including one called endothelin. Endothelin causes an increased tendency to form more clots, and promotes severe inflammation and narrowing of collateral vessels supplying areas behind the site of the clot. Bosentan is a drug used successfully in people to treat various diseases such as coronary artery disease. This study looks to determine the effectiveness of bosentan in the treatment of cats with ATE.

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