Non-invasive blood pressure measurements in cats: clinical significance of hypertension associated with chronic renal failure.

The systolic, mean and diastolic pressures as well as the heart rate were measured using the oscillometric method, on a total of 104 cats (60 cats in the normal group, and 44 in the renal disease group) which were brought into Azabu University Animal Hospital. The blood pressure in the normal group was systolic: 115.4 +/- 10.1 mmHg, mean: 96.2 +/- 12.2 mmHg, and diastolic: 73.7 +/- 10.7 mmHg. Although no difference in heart rate, the renal disease group showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher values for systolic, mean, and diastolic pressure when compared with the normal group. Moreover, when plasma renin activity, angiotensin I and II, and aldosterone concentrations were measured in other cats (11 normal and seven with chronic renal failure), all cats with chronic renal failure showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher values than the normal group. It is, therefore, indicated that hypertension due to stimulating renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system may have manifested in cats with renal dysfunction.