Just like people, cats can have high blood pressure or “hypertension”. Sometimes there is no particular cause for it but in most cases there is another problem present such as kidney disease or an overactive thyroid.

 

 

What does hypertension do?

- High blood pressure can cause damage to some of the important organs in the body especially the eye, brain, kidneys and heart.

- In the eye, the blood vessels are very delicate and can rupture if the blood pressure is too high. This can lead to sudden blindness which is usually permanent even if the blood pressure can be brought back down to normal levels.

- With high blood pressure, fluid can leak out of blood vessels into the brain and cause brain swelling which can lead to abnormal behaviour, weakness, paralysis, seizures, coma and death.

- High blood pressure is common in cats with kidney disease and will tend to cause further damage to the kidneys very quickly if it is not controlled.

- The heart and blood vessels are also susceptible to damage from high blood pressure and often a heart murmur can be heard in cats with hypertension.

When should my cat have its blood pressure measured?

In older cats (more than 10 years old) it is often a good idea to have their blood pressure measured once a year. In other cases we would recommend your cat has its blood pressure measured if we suspect or know it has kidney or thyroid disease or if it is showing signs of blindness, unusual behaviour or possible brain disease.

How do we measure blood pressure?

We use a very similar method to the one used in people – the main difference is that instead of using a stethoscope to listen to the pulse, we attach a special probe with a speaker. We need to shave a little bit of hair from your cats paw or tail to do this. Often your cats blood pressure will go up a bit when we shave their hair and put the probe on because the noise scares them. For this reason, we usually let them sit quietly for 10-15 minutes afterwards before we take any measurements.

What is too high?

A blood pressure reading of greater than 175mmHg is considered to be abnormal. Usually this needs to be shown consistently over readings on different occasions.

Can it be treated?

If your cat has high blood pressure which may be associated with another problem such as an overactive thyroid, we may treat this first to see if the blood pressure then comes down. If not, there is medication that is usually very effective at lowering blood pressure. Your cat will need to have regular check ups and would usually be on medication for the rest of its life.