A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats
Background: Purring in cats can interfere with cardiac auscultation. If the produced noise is loud enough, purring makes it impossible to perform a meaningful auscultation as it is much louder than heart sounds and murmurs. Our study introduced and tested a new, simple, fear-free, cat-friendly metho...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/236 |
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| author | Tessa Vliegenthart Viktor Szatmári |
| author_facet | Tessa Vliegenthart Viktor Szatmári |
| author_sort | Tessa Vliegenthart |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Purring in cats can interfere with cardiac auscultation. If the produced noise is loud enough, purring makes it impossible to perform a meaningful auscultation as it is much louder than heart sounds and murmurs. Our study introduced and tested a new, simple, fear-free, cat-friendly method to stop purring during auscultation. Methods: The technique involves grasping the cat’s larynx from ventral with one hand, while simultaneously holding the stethoscope in the other hand to perform the auscultation. Results: The incidence of purring was evaluated in 582 cats, in a veterinary teaching hospital and in a cat-friendly private practice. Fifty-one (8.8%) cats were purring during their physical examination. The tested method had a success rate of 89% in terminating purring. A comparison between investigators (a veterinary student versus an experienced veterinary cardiology specialist) showed no significant difference in the effectiveness of the method (<i>p</i> = 0.57). The incidence of purring was not significantly different between the teaching hospital and the cat-friendly practice (<i>p</i> = 1.00). Sick and older cats purred more often than healthy and younger cats. Conclusions: This new, simple, easy-to-master method is an improvement over previously reported techniques and supports the need for stress-free, cat-friendly handling in veterinary practice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-786469a620594daa9bb3e9bb277c1182 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj-art-786469a620594daa9bb3e9bb277c11822025-01-24T13:18:13ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-01-0115223610.3390/ani15020236A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in CatsTessa Vliegenthart0Viktor Szatmári1Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The NetherlandsDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, 3584 CM Utrecht, The NetherlandsBackground: Purring in cats can interfere with cardiac auscultation. If the produced noise is loud enough, purring makes it impossible to perform a meaningful auscultation as it is much louder than heart sounds and murmurs. Our study introduced and tested a new, simple, fear-free, cat-friendly method to stop purring during auscultation. Methods: The technique involves grasping the cat’s larynx from ventral with one hand, while simultaneously holding the stethoscope in the other hand to perform the auscultation. Results: The incidence of purring was evaluated in 582 cats, in a veterinary teaching hospital and in a cat-friendly private practice. Fifty-one (8.8%) cats were purring during their physical examination. The tested method had a success rate of 89% in terminating purring. A comparison between investigators (a veterinary student versus an experienced veterinary cardiology specialist) showed no significant difference in the effectiveness of the method (<i>p</i> = 0.57). The incidence of purring was not significantly different between the teaching hospital and the cat-friendly practice (<i>p</i> = 1.00). Sick and older cats purred more often than healthy and younger cats. Conclusions: This new, simple, easy-to-master method is an improvement over previously reported techniques and supports the need for stress-free, cat-friendly handling in veterinary practice.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/236arrhythmiacat-friendlyfelinehypertrophic cardiomyopathygallopmidventricular obstruction |
| spellingShingle | Tessa Vliegenthart Viktor Szatmári A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats Animals arrhythmia cat-friendly feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy gallop midventricular obstruction |
| title | A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats |
| title_full | A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats |
| title_fullStr | A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats |
| title_full_unstemmed | A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats |
| title_short | A New, Easy-to-Learn, Fear-Free Method to Stop Purring During Cardiac Auscultation in Cats |
| title_sort | new easy to learn fear free method to stop purring during cardiac auscultation in cats |
| topic | arrhythmia cat-friendly feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy gallop midventricular obstruction |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/236 |
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