With good veterinary care, good nutrition, spay/neuter and indoor homes, cats are living longer lives. Because of this, high blood pressure, known medically as hypertension, is occurring in more cats. This has made it necessary for more veterinarians and pet guardians to become familiar with the process of checking a cat's blood pressure. A veterinarian uses a special instrument called a Doppler to measure the cat's blood pressure.
Things You'll Need
- Clippers
- Doppler
Instructions
Clip the hair around the area of the cat where you plan to place the blood pressure cuff. This will be the cat's front leg, back leg or tail.
Place the inflatable cuff around the cat's front leg, back leg or tail.
Inflate the pressure in the cuff to more than 200 millimeters mercury (Hg) or until the sound of the artery can no longer be heard through the Doppler's earphones.
Slowly release the pressure from the cuff until the artery sound can be heard again. This number is the cat's systolic blood pressure.
Repeat the blood pressure readings over seven to 10 sessions.
Discard the highest reading and the lowest reading. Average the remaining five readings to arrive at the cat's blood pressure. If the reading is 170 to 180 mm Hg in systolic pressure, the cat is considered to be hypertensive.