Systolic blood pressure of clinically normal and conscious cats determined by an indirect Doppler method in a clinical setting.

The purposes of the present study were to determine the systolic blood pressure (SBP) of clinically normal and conscious cats, and to set up reference values of feline SBP for subsequent clinical application. SBPs were measured in 53 healthy cats using an ultrasonic Doppler device. The mean SBP was 133.6 +/- 16.0 mmHg (range, 110.0-180.0 mmHg). The distribution of SBP values was not significantly affected by factors such as breed, body condition score, or age (P>0.05), but SBP values of female cats were significantly lower and more variable than those of males (t test, P=0.004; F test, P<0.001). Feline SBP between 114.3 mmHg and 149.5 mmHg was considered indicative of normotension. SBP values higher than 159.3 mmHg were defined as hypertension, and those less than 104.5 mmHg were determined as hypotension.