Circulatory System

Your cat's activity pattern - long periods of relaxation intermingled with bursts of intense action would be impossible without effective circulatory and  respiratory systems. With the need to be instantly alert and on the move, your cat has developed breathing and heart systems that are primed for flight.

Blood carries oxygen and nutrients around the body to all the organs, including the lungs, brain, liver and kidneys, as well as supplying the tissues with various life sustaining functions. Then it helps in the removal of waste products and essential detoxification processes.

The vascular system is a complicated network of thicker-walled, elastic arteries and thinner veins that delivers blood to the target organs and tissues and returns it to the heart, which acts  pump driving the whole system. The left side of the the heart pumps oxygenated blood around the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients.

Then, after returning via the venous system to the right cardiac side, the de-oxygenated blood is pumped with the next heartbeat to the lungs, where carbon-dioxide is exchanged for more oxygen taken in with each breath.

Pulse rate  is created by the pump action of the heart. The resting feline heart rate of around 120 beats per minute is higher than ours and it can almost double with a speedy burst of activity.