Believe it or not, cats and dogs can suffer problems with their blood pressure. It can be too high (hypertension) or too low (hypotension).
Measuring blood pressure in animals is not quite as easy as perfoming it in humans and requires specialist equipment to do it. We have been measuring blood pressures for a number of years now, using Doppler ultrasound. In addition to the vets, our qualified nurses are trained in this procedure.
A big thank you goes out to Richie from The Dog Walker for donating a brand new blood pressure machine. With this updated digital model we can accurately record multiple readings in one session, and because it is so quiet compared to the Doppler ultrasound, animals are less stressed and blood pressure readings are more reliable.
High blood pressure
We mainly see hypertension in our feline patients and often they have underlying thyroid or cardiac disease. As hypertension can lead to blindness or strokes it is important that we can diagnose, treat and monitor blood pressure accurately.
Low blood pressure
We tend to see hypotension in critically ill patients or those with failing hearts. Again, these cases need close monitoring whilst any treatments are being carried out.
