Secondary Hypertension And Its Treatment In Cats

Geddes, Rebecca

Abstract

Secondary hypertension, due to an underlying disease, is common in older cats especially in cats with CKD and/or hyperthyroidism. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) should be measured whenever an associated disease is diagnosed and persistent SBP >160mmHg should prompt treatment to prevent or reverse target organ damage (TOD). Amlodipine and telmisartan are licensed in the UK for treating feline hypertension and both drugs have been evaluated in prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trials in hypertensive cats with SBP 160-200mmHg that did not have evidence of TOD. Initial reductions of 20-30mmHg can be expected with either medication and cats should be re-evaluated after 14 days and dose adjustments made as required. No studies have compared the performance of one drug against the other and either medication should be selected as the first-line treatment for feline hypertension. At present, there is more data in the literature to support the use of amlodipine in cats with severe hypertension (SBP >200mmHg) or with evidence of ocular or neurological TOD.

Citation

Geddes, R. (2022). Secondary Hypertension And Its Treatment In Cats. Companion Animal, https://doi.org/10.12968/coan.2021.0070

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Mar 7, 2022
• Online Publication Date: May 18, 2022
• Publication Date: Jun 2, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 28, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 18, 2022
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/coan.2021.0070