The Animal Heartbeat

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Mitral regurgitation is one of the most common pathologies in veterinary cardiology, yet most cardiologists do not feel confident in making a direct assessment of MR severity. Does chamber size hold the key, or do we have to perform complex Doppler-derived measurements to achieve a meaningful assessment of back-flow? Professor Tommaso Vezzosi, of The University...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. We estimate that 1 in 7 cats have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, compared to 1 in 500 humans. In a number of ways, both species share similar characteristics of disease, and vets often look to the world of human medicine for better understanding. However, some factors about feline HCM appear to be fundamentally different to humans. Join our hosts, Jose and Kieran,...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Cardiology is one of the more accessible disciplines for primary care vets, but still poses a number of important challenges for the clinician. Join Jose and Kieran as they host an amazing panel of guests: Rory Cowlam, Cat Henstridge, James Greenwood, and Louisa Graham - experienced GP vets with different levels of enthusiasm for cardiology! Our excellent panel...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. In the finale of The Animal Heartbeat Season 3, Kieran and Jose are once again joined by Dr Mark Rishniw. Double-boarded in Cardiology and Internal Medicine, Mark works as a VIN Consultant and Research Associate of the Simpson Lab at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Through his numerous educational roles, lectures and publications, Dr Rishniw h...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. In the first part of our very special, two-part Animal Heartbeat Season 3 finale, Kieran and Jose are joined by Dr Mark Rishniw. Double-boarded in Cardiology and Internal Medicine, Mark works as a VIN Consultant and Research Associate of the Simpson Lab at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Through his numerous educational roles, lectures and pub...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. On Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat, we have been privileged to be joined by a number of cardiology icons - legends in their field. As we come towards the season close, we are joined by Dr Julie Rosser, CEO of the EBVS and a Board Certified ACVS and ECVS Surgeon with a back ground in large animal work in both the USA and Europe. Julie has a broad perspective on...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. This week, our hosts Jose and Kieran bring you a discussion of their favourite scientific papers published in 2025. If you are interested in what science influences the cardiology specialists, then listen in for our thoughts on three manuscripts that contain data crucial to veterinary cardiology today. Links to the papers, if you wanted to read along: https://do...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. In Episode 7 of the Icons series, Prof John Bonagura joins our hosts, Jose and Kieran, to discuss how we can advance our echocardiographic skills in animals. Echocardiography is a fundamental tool for clinicians a...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. In this episode, we welcome Prof Kate Meurs, Randall B. Terry Jr Dean of North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Prof Meurs has worked across the fields of clinical vet cardiology and genet...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. This fifth edition of the Icons series features Mike Martin, RCVS Diplomate in Veterinary Cardiology who founded the first private cardiology specialist practice in the UK and pioneered cardiac interventions in Eu...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. This episode features Professor Robert Hamlin, of The Ohio State University, Stanton Youngberg Professor Emeritus in Cardiology, and Principal Scientist at Q-Test Labs. Prof Hamlin qualified as a veterinarian in 1...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. This episode features Dr Philip Fox, of The Animal Medical Center NY, Chair of the Caspary Research Institute and Service Lead in Cardiology. Dr Fox is well-known for his groundbreaking work on feline cardiomyopat...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. This episode features Professor Chris Orton of Colorado State University. Prof Orton has been a leader in the field of canine heart surgery for over thirty years, having worked to develop both open heart surgery t...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Season 3 of The Animal Heartbeat is all about the Veterinary Cardiology Icons - those who walk among us as legends of the veterinary cardiology world. This episode features Professor Sydney Möise, of Cornell University, CV Starr Professor Emerita of Cardiology. Prof Möise's research and education output on cardiac arrhythmias has shaped how many of us think...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Our Animal Heartbeat live panel discussion in 2025 covers the topic of artificial intelligence and its use in veterinary and human patients. Our panel review topics such as how to validate AI tools, where AI fits in current medicine and how opportunities for its use are evolving, and should we worry about AI? Our hosts Kieran and Jose are joined by a fantastic p...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Join Kieran and Jose as guests of the Portuguese Society of Veterinary Cardiology 2025 Congress, where we reflect on the past two seasons of The Animal Heartbeat, and look forward to the upcoming season 3. Our hosts bring their top lessons from season 1 and 2 guests, including advice from Gerhard Wess, Claudio Bussadori and Josh Stern, in front of a live congres...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. This is part 2 of The Animal Heartbeat Christmas Quiz 2024 - is you have not already done so, make sure to listen to part 1 before enjoying this episode! Merry Christmas to all of our listeners! How better to celebrate the holiday season that a Christmas Quiz? Join Jose and Kieran, alongside some guest hosts - hand picked as future stars of the veterinary cardio...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Merry Christmas to all of our listeners! How better to celebrate the holiday season that a Christmas Quiz? Join Jose and Kieran, alongside some guest hosts - hand picked as future stars of the veterinary cardiology world to test our hosts' knowledge and approach to cardiology case material. Jose and Kieran have each secretly set questions for the other. Lis...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Hallowe'en is a time for bringing people together and sharing scary stories. Did you ever hear the one about the young, newlywed couple who broke down on the country road by the old psychiatric hospital...? No need to worry - this strictly scientific discussion sees Kieran and Jose share stories of the most terrifying heart conditions that they know of. The...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Mitral valve disease is the most common heart disease diagnosed in dogs. Our understanding of it affects how we manage a wide range of scenarios, from asymptomatic heart murmurs detected at annual vaccination, to patients with respiratory signs or those about to undergo sedation or anaesthesia, or simply receive fluid therapy. Join Professor Michele Borgarelli,...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Vets understand that the cornerstone of treatment for congestive heart failure in animals is the use of loop diuretics, such as furosemide. But resistance occurs in all patients over time, and intensification of diuretic treatment is a vital part of managing patients with clinical signs - both for left- and right-sided manifestations of disease. How are we best...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. As veterinary cardiologists, we rely on ultrasound every day to assess cardiac structure and function. Whilst important for owners to understand the cause of a murmur or clinical signs, we use echo to make critical decisions about when and how to treat, and inform conversations with owners about prognosis. The impact of echo on the lives of our patients is great...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Horses are highly evolved athletes, with mind-bending changes to the cardiovascular system achieved during exercise. How does the spectrum of heart disease compare to that seen in dogs and cats? Join our hosts, Jose and Kieran, as they enjoy a rapid-fire review of equine cardiac disorders with Prof Colin Schwarzwald, director of the Clinic of Equine Internal Med...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) affects 1 in 7 cats overall, and has huge implications for feline health and wellbeing across the globe. Strategies to detect early disease are fundamentally important to both pet owners and cat breeders, so that individual animals and the wider breed can be cared for as needed. Screening for HCM in apparently healthy cats has b...

Message our hosts, Kieran and Jose. Dilated cardiomyopathy is one of the most challenging diseases in veterinary cardiology. Early detection is key to maximising benefit for individual dogs, but clinical signs are lacking and physical exam may be unremarkable. Adding to this, echocardiographic diagnosis may be subtle, or changes may be caused by a an underlying disease process which is reversible...