In cats high blood pressure is normally secondary. This means the elevation in blood pressure is usually caused by another disease. Two common health issues in aging cats are kidney disease and hyperthyroidism. Both of these can cause high blood pressure.

Unfortunately high blood pressure is a “silent disease” this means your cat will not show symptoms until hypertension (high blood pressure) has caused serious damage to their body. The symptoms you will eventually see may consist of the following: blindness, decreased appetite, behavioral changes, vocalizing, restlessness, weakness, disorientation and seizures among others. Again these can all be prevented with routine blood pressure checks.

Treatments for high blood pressure are in most cases fairly simple. Pills can normally be given to lower blood pressure. If your cat won’t take a pill, chews or liquids can be made and are easier to administer.

Sometimes we are asked if a cat being nervous can raise their blood pressure. The answer is yes! Just like people in the doctor’s office, anxiety and stress play a part. When we take a cat’s blood pressure reading we take these factors into consideration. Repeat readings are also valuable. The stress of coming into the veterinarian’s office should be about the same each time. That means with multiple readings over time we can determine if blood pressure is rising.

Remember at 8 years of age we should obtain a blood pressure reading every six months. This will help us catch an unhealthy rise in blood pressure before serious problems occur.