Anyone ever have a cat with hypertension?

[alarimer]

Or a dog, or any other pet? I took him to the vet today for his semi-annual bloodwork and they took his blood pressure for the first time.

He has hyperthyroidism, so he's on meds for that, a transdermal that's pretty easy to give. Apparently these conditions co-occur. In any case, he is an old cat (17) so that is part of it too.

What was funny was getting his drugs at the human pharmacy; it's a med made for people and the only difference is he takes a quarter of a pill, because he is many times smaller than a human. And he is willing to eat the pill pockets, so I'm hoping this goes well. But I've never give him a pill before. Hopefully he will still eat the pill pocket when there is a very small pill inside it.

[guillaumeb]

1. I cannot imagine an animal that sleeps most of the day having hypertension.

But good luck with your cat.

[alarimer]

3. Well, apparently, it goes along with hyperthyroidism.

I don't know why.

But I did consider that he is always very stressed out at the vet. So the readings would be higher than normal. In his case, they were considerably higher (30 points maybe).

[LisaL]

8. Mine read really high at the vet.

I got a vet do a home visit and they were completely normal. Stress could make a big difference.

[ailsagirl]

2. Not any of mine

I was going to suggest pill pockets-- gets the job done

Good luck!

[Beakybird]

4. When I lived in Granada, Spain

I had a girlfriend who had a cat that was really high strung and tense. It wouldn't let me pet it. She lived in a flat on a really busy street. When trucks and buses would go by, the whole apartment would rumble.
Then she moved into a small house in the ancient part of the city that had a quiet backyard with a fig tree.
I couldn't believe the change in behavior in that cat. It walked around relaxed and languorous. It would hop into my lap and purr.

[MLAA]

5. I've been to Granada, it is lovely I would walk around and purr too!

[Big Blue Marble]

6. I have recently had two cats with hypertension.

They were brothers. One who had hyperthyroidism had hypertension for over nearly three years.
My vet said that once cats are treated for hyperthyroidism they often develop hypertension.

Pill pockets worked for two years then he got suspicious so I rolled the pill in a small amount of the pill pocket
and stuck it to a regular treat. That worked too until several months before his death, then I gave him
the pill in the little bit of pill pocket orally which he took well.

The other guy, his brother, suddenly developed hypertension and sadly went blind before we knew
what was happening. He also took the pill pockets.

The good news is with the right medication, cats can live many comfortable years with both
hypertension and hyperthyroid.

[alarimer]

7. He seems to like the pill pockets.

He is not a cat for treats so I was worried. Tomorrow will be the first test with the pill.

[Big Blue Marble]

9. Pill pockets are a great invention.

I used to pill cats by sticking the pill down their throats, seemed so awful. The pockets
work so much better. You can buy them on Amazon. They have a much better price
than the vets. I also bought Grafco Finger Cots to wear when giving the transdermal ear
medicine on Amazon, very expensive. That is good when you are using two a day.

Good luck with your treatment tomorrow. Let us know how it goes.

[alarimer]

10. He took the pill without issue.

Those pill pockets do work well.

[Big Blue Marble]

11. Excellent. N/T

[alarimer]

12. UPDATE: it turns out his liver enzymes are elevated

By quite a lot, actually. Now this sometimes happens with hyperthyroidism, but then they usually fall if the medication works to control the thyroid hormones. But that's not happening here.

This could be a sign of liver failure or other serious conditions. Now, he isn't particularly ill now or lethargic, but I'm guessing some decision will have to be made sooner rather than later.

[3catwoman3]

13. One of ours, no longer with us, really got the short end of the stick...

...genetically. He was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease when he was 7. Temporarily diabetic and on insulin while on high doses of steroids to get the IBD under control. Also had some sort of chronic resorbtive dental disease. Chronic blood in his urine. Anemia. Eventually a heart murmur.

And, his pupils were chronically dilated, which our vet said can be a sign of hypertension in cats. I did not know that. Poor guy soldiered on until he was 12, and then kept getting thinner and thinner. I decided to let nature take its course by then, as I figured an expensive diagnostic workup would only find something else that couldn't be fixed.

We still have his sister, who has needed very little vet care.

I hope your kitty will be OK.

[alarimer]

14. Apparently, he has elevated liver enzymes

Which is often related to hyperthyroidism, but in this case may be a sign of something worse. He'll go back in month for some more bloodwork.

He is an old cat (17) so this is not unusual. At some point decisions have to be made, particularly if he begins to suffer. Right now he seems okay.