What is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy – a heart disease where areas of heart muscle enlarge and thicken – is the most common heart disease in cats. Although it develops and progresses over time, its early signs may be subtle or nonexistent. A cat that seems healthy may appear to become very ill very quickly, or even die suddenly.

These pages will explain some basics about how the heart functions, what hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is, how it impairs the heart's ability to function, how a veterinarian diagnoses HCM, and the goal of prescribing medications to manage it.

A downloadable feline HCM information sheet is also available.

What's New?

A new Genetics and HCM page, which discusses the heritability and breeding implications of HCM in more depth, has been added. It expands on the information introduced on the Causes page.   (5/08)

Ten years ago we introduced this site to provide information about feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. While there is currently no cure for this disease, nor any indications of a possible cure on the research horizon, the body of knowledge about this disease has continued to evolve over the past decade. We have revised all of our pages to reflect a bit more detail about feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, its cause, and its medical management.   (3/08)

Feline HCM Information Sheet

Feline HCM Information Sheet In response to visitor suggestions, we have put together an information sheet about feline HCM. It is a one-page document in PDF format. (If you don't have the free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®, it can be downloaded from the Adobe site.) 

The feline HCM information sheet is not intended to provide medical or treatment advice. 

If your pet is ill, please have it examined by your veterinarian.

Individuals, veterinarians, and not-for-profit organizations may freely distribute paper prints of this information sheet provided there is no charge to the recipients, and that it is printed in its entirety and without alteration. It may not be republished in any other print or electronic form, nor may its file be redistributed or copied to other locations on the Internet, or in any network or other media, without the permission of the authors. Thank you for your courtesy.

Feline HCM Information Sheet