Senior Cat Comfort & Care

When cats suffer with persistently high blood pressure, it’s referred to as hypertension.

Hypertension can be primary, meaning the cause is unknown, or secondary, meaning it’s the result of another underlying medical issue.

Secondary hypertension is the most common form in cats. Chronic kidney disease is often the cause.

The signs of hypertension include:

• Blood in the urine
• Bleeding from the nose
• Persistent dilated pupils
• Sudden blindness
• Bleeding inside the globe of the eye
• Neurologic signs such as head tilt, weakness, disorientation, abnormal gait, depression, or seizures
• Increased drinking and urination
• Heart murmur

Your cat’s blood pressure is checked much like yours and can be easily done at a veterinary clinic. Ideally, this should be done in a quiet room before any other procedures but after they’ve had time to acclimate to the room and calm down.

Your cat will be diagnosed with hypertension if they have a systolic pressure of 140 mmHg or higher, a diastolic pressure of 90 mmHg or higher, or both on at least two separate occasions.