Systemic hypertension.

Dogs and cats may occasionally suffer from systemic hypertension, which is a higher than normal arterial blood pressure. Blood pressure is evaluated in small animals in nearly the same way that it is in humans. Basically, a cuff is inflated on a limb (or occasionally the tail), and a Doppler probe is used to hear the pulse in an artery. The cuff is situated between the artery and the heart itself. The cuff is inflated until the pulse disappears, and the pressure in the cuff is slowly decreased until the pulse returns. The pressure at which this happens is the systolic arterial blood pressure. Evaluation of the blood pressure is also known as manometry, and the pressure gauge used with the cuff is called a sphyngomanometer. Blood pressure is measured in units called millimeters of mercury (mmHg). The normal systolic arterial blood pressure in dogs and cats is usually between 90-150 mmHg.