High blood pressure is a health problem for many people, but most pet parents likely haven't considered the possibility of their pets developing it. However, this is entirely possible for cats to develop within their lifetimes. If you've learned recently that your cat has high blood pressure, there are some steps that your vet is going to want you to go through to ensure that they're as healthy and safe as possible. Here's what you'll likely be able to expect.

Medication and Monitoring

As you've probably noticed, checking blood pressure typically isn't a common part of general pet wellness check-ups. However, now that your cat has been diagnosed, you can expect it to be a regular thing. Depending on your local vet's capabilities and facilities, this may mean sending you to a veterinarian specialist to ensure that your cat gets the treatment and care that they need.

A big part of keeping your cat healthy is controlling their blood pressure as much as possible. High blood pressure can cause tissue damage and other health problems, so the step to avoiding that is controlling the high spikes. Your vet will likely want to get a baseline for your cat's blood pressure, and will then prescribe medication to you. Give this to your cat every day as directed to help keep their health in good shape.

Additional Check-Ups

In addition to your cat's general wellness checks and blood pressure checks, your vet may send your kitty to a veterinary specialist who cares for the eyes and one that cares for the kidneys.

The reason for this is that both of these areas of the body are susceptible to the kind of damage that high blood pressure can do. When left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can cause partial or full blindness in cats. High blood pressure can also cause tissue damage that can make the kidneys less effective at performing their blood filtering tasks.

Once your cat's blood pressure is well-controlled, you likely won't need to see these vets as often. However, at least at the start, you should agree to keep seeing them so that any existing damage to your cat's eyes or kidneys can be detected and cared for before it becomes severe.

High blood pressure is a serious problem for cats, but with good medical care and medication, it's a condition that can be controlled. Don't let your cat go through this condition with no help. Get in touch with a vet and start this process soon.

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