Why get your pet's blood pressure measured?

High blood pressure or systemic hypertension is an important disease process in older animals, especially cats. It can go undetected for a long time until it causes sudden dramatic signs such as blindness due to damage to the retina at the back of the eye and fits, weakness or collapse due to high pressure in the brain causing bleeding. It is seen frequently with other diseases associated with old age such as kidney failure and an over-active thyroid. If detected early enough it can be controlled with medication and these terrible effects can be avoided.

What happens when my pet gets its blood pressure measured?

You will be asked to make an appointment at a quiet time of day as it is important that your pet is not stressed during this procedure. If your pet gets very agitated during its visits to the vets it may not be possible to measure its blood pressure accurately as sedation would artificially lower any readings. You may be asked to leave your pet for a few hours with us to allow it to settle before having its blood pressure measured.
The procedure is very much like when we get our blood pressure taken at the doctors. A cuff is placed around your pet's forearm and a small area of fur by the wrist is wet with surgical spirit. A small probe is gently placed at this area, this will give out a pulsing sound as it detects the blood flow in the vessels of the "wrist". The cuff is inflated and readings are taken at the point the blood flow is heard to return to the wrist. Several readings are necessary to get an accurate result.

What happens if my pet has high blood pressure?

If there are other signs present that lead us to believe that there may be another disease such as kidney failure or an over active thyroid gland causing the blood pressure to rise we may want to take a blood sample. If there is something else causing the high blood pressure by treating this the blood pressure will normalise over a few months. If we can not find any other reason for the high blood pressure your pet will be given tablets to try to lower the pressure. These are similar to the type of tablets taken by people. We will probably want to measure the pressure every 3 weeks or so at first to make sure we are dropping it to the right level.
As with people diet is important to control high blood pressure. Unless your pet is put on a special diet for some other problem it should be offered a diet as low in salt as possible. If your pet is overweight this can also contribute to its blood pressure being high. However medication will be the mainstay of its treatment.

So when do I decide its right to have my pet's blood pressure measured?

Any older animal (cats or dogs over 10 years of age) can have their blood pressure measured. It is especially important if you have noticed behaviour changes, changes in eyesight or the appearance of the eye, excessive drinking or fits.

If you are concerned about any of the above signs or would like to make an appointment to have your pet's blood pressure measured please contact the surgery.

See also LOW SALT DIETS