Facebook post from July 4 about stress and how HCM cats react which leads to congestion:
Let's review stress in cats. Cats do not have stress the way humans have stress. We hear "stress" and think cats are stressed i.e. unhappy, depressed, sad, wanting, overburdened, upset by things around them. They do not have human stress. Their stress comes from a natural anxious state, a state that leaves them on constant alert, always aware of their surroundings, ready to flee (even if they seem sound asleep or at ease.) So, when they hear fireworks or construction noise or other things bother them, their bodies go into a stressful, anxious, reaction state. The physical reaction is the same as in humans. That means the heart races, blood pressure rises, adrenaline rushes, etc. A diseased heart cannot handle the reaction and added workload and thus requires medication to support heart function, slow the heart rate when at rest. And a diseased heart cannot properly function to pump fluid. And this can lead to CHF-congestive heart failure, which is why HCM cats need lasix, the diuretic, to get rid of extra fluid in the body. Hence, the reason you want to reduce stressful situations for your HCM cat-firework noise, construction/street/in the house noise, visitors, kids, other pets, etc.-is so that you decrease stress in the cat, and therefore decrease the likelihood of congestion.
Let's review stress in cats. Cats do not have stress the way humans have stress. We hear "stress" and think cats are stressed i.e. unhappy, depressed, sad, wanting, overburdened, upset by things around them. They do not have human stress. Their stress comes from a natural anxious state, a state that leaves them on constant alert, always aware of their surroundings, ready to flee (even if they seem sound asleep or at ease.) So, when they hear fireworks or construction noise or other things bother them, their bodies go into a stressful, anxious, reaction state. The physical reaction is the same as in humans. That means the heart races, blood pressure rises, adrenaline rushes, etc. A diseased heart cannot handle the reaction and added workload and thus requires medication to support heart function, slow the heart rate when at rest. And a diseased heart cannot properly function to pump fluid. And this can lead to CHF-congestive heart failure, which is why HCM cats need lasix, the diuretic, to get rid of extra fluid in the body. Hence, the reason you want to reduce stressful situations for your HCM cat-firework noise, construction/street/in the house noise, visitors, kids, other pets, etc.-is so that you decrease stress in the cat, and therefore decrease the likelihood of congestion.
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