Feline Low Blood Pressure Symptoms

A healthy cat is a happy cat that will live a long time. Unfortunately, medical conditions that adversely affect the health and longevity of humans can also appear in felines. Low blood pressure, or hypotension, is one such condition that a cat may have. A cat's normal blood pressure reading should be less than 160 to 170 systolic. Individual blood pressures may vary, but anything less than 80 to 90 systolic signifies low blood pressure.

  1. Causes

    • Low blood pressure often occurs during surgery, when a cat is under anesthesia. Shock, sudden trauma and heavy bleeding can also cause a feline to have low blood pressure. And certain medications, particularly those used to treat high blood pressure, can often lower blood pressure too far. Certain medical conditions, such as renal failure, can also cause the blood pressure level to drop.
      In other cases, there is no real cause for low blood pressure. Just as humans suffer from high and low blood pressure for seemingly no reason, cats do as well.

    Symptoms

    • Cats with hypotension will often exhibit the same symptoms that humans do. These include fatigue, dizziness, fainting, depression and a lack of concentration, nausea, rapid and shallow breathing, and excessive thirst. Additionally, an afflicted cat may have pale gums.

    Diagnosis

    • Feline hypotension is often detected and diagnosed during a routine visit. In other instances, a concerned pet owner may bring the possibility of low blood pressure to the attention of the cat's veterinarian. In either case, diagnosis is usually done with a special blood pressure sensor, which is placed directly against the cat's paw. A blood pressure cuff is placed above the paw, and an amplifier is used to help detect the pulsing of blood through the cat's veins.

    Treatment

    • It's important to start treatment for a cat with hypotension as soon as possible. Low blood pressure often causes decreased oxygen delivery to organs, which can result in those organs being damaged or failing completely.
      Treatment options for hypotension include special medications, and frequent checkups to monitor blood pressure.

    Tips

    • If you suspect that your cat has low blood pressure, make an appointment with your veterinarian as soon as possible. The sooner hypotension is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin. Hypotension has the potential to be fatal if left untreated, particularly if it is being caused by something more serious, such as heart disease or renal failure.