Chronic heart disease and its management.

Diseases of the cardiovascular system are a common cause of morbidity and mortality among geriatric canine and feline patients. Furthermore, diseases of the heart and vasculature often complicate the management of other abnormalities. This article contains a brief overview of the effects of aging on the circulatory system. It also contains a discussion of the cardiovascular disorders most frequently encountered in geriatric animals, namely, the feline myocardial disorders and feline hypertension and degenerative valvular disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, and cardiac in dogs.