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Cardiology

Your pet’s heart is essential to their vitality, and maintaining heart health requires careful attention. Heart disease, whether congenital or age-related, can be subtle in its early stages but have a significant impact on your pet’s quality of life. Our veterinary cardiology service is dedicated to early detection, accurate diagnosis, and personalized management of heart conditions. 

Using advanced, non-invasive diagnostic tools, our teams across the Velvet network develop targeted treatment plans to support healthy cardiac function, slow disease progression, and help your faithful companion enjoy a comfortable and active life.

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Comprehensive cardiac auscultation

Digital Doppler echocardiography

Blood pressure measurement and monitoring

Electrocardiogram (ECG)

Digital chest X-rays

Heart failure management

Screening for congenital heart disease

Monitoring of specific cardiomyopathies

Emergency and supportive care protocols

Your most commons questions

A heart murmur is an abnormal sound caused by turbulent blood flow through the heart, often due to a leaking heart valve. Our veterinarians in Montréal can detect heart murmurs during a routine physical examination using a stethoscope. A heart murmur is not a disease itself, but it can be a sign of an underlying cardiac abnormality that requires further investigation.
An echocardiogram, or cardiac ultrasound, is a completely painless and non-invasive diagnostic test. Using an ultrasound probe, the veterinarian can observe the heart in real time as it beats. Your pet is simply positioned comfortably on a specialized cushion. A small area of hair on the chest may need to be shaved to obtain clear images, but sedation is not required in the vast majority of cases.
Heart disease can often develop without obvious symptoms. Warning signs include tiring quickly during activity, exercise intolerance, frequent coughing, especially at night or upon waking in dogs, faster or more difficult breathing at rest, or episodes of weakness and fainting (syncope).
HCM is the most common heart disease in cats. It is characterized by an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle, which can interfere with the heart’s ability to fill properly with blood. The condition can be particularly difficult to detect because many affected cats do not have an audible heart murmur during auscultation. This is why echocardiographic screening can be important, especially in predisposed breeds such as Maine Coon, Sphynx, and British Shorthair cats.
In most cases, chronic heart disease cannot be cured, but it can often be managed very effectively with modern veterinary medicine. Current medications can reduce the workload on the heart, help regulate heart rhythm, and prevent fluid from accumulating in the lungs, significantly extending your pet’s life while maintaining their comfort and quality of life.
Just as in humans, high blood pressure (hypertension) forces the heart to work harder, which can place additional strain on the heart muscle over time. In senior pets, hypertension is often secondary to kidney or thyroid disease. Controlling blood pressure is essential not only to protect the heart, but also to help prevent serious damage to the eyes and brain.
Regular monitoring is key to successful treatment. After cardiac medication is started within our Velvet network, we schedule periodic follow-up appointments, generally every 3 to 6 months. These visits allow us to reassess heart function through echocardiography or X-rays, evaluate heart rhythm with an ECG, and perform bloodwork to ensure that the kidneys are tolerating the medications well.