Blood pressure meter for pets

[Din]

Is anyone using pet blood pressure meter? I felt it’s less stress and more worth than paying for vet. But just wondering does it work?

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Din you would need to be able to know how to use the machine and to know what the normal BG is of a cat.
What has the vet said about Cierra’s BP?
How often does he want it to be taken.?
I know you can buy them in Australia but I don’t know it if would be worth it to buy one at this point.
I know you are having some financial difficulties.

 

[Din]

I will able to manage reading it Bron, I can ask from our pharmacist ( chemist warehouses pharmacist) to help me. Yes it’s really hard to afford right now. But I feel it’s worth than going to vet. I call to vet today, they said check blood pressure in two weeks time. Consultation will cost 80. I checked few pet blood pressure matching, it’s around 150. But not sure it’s really works.

I did ask prescriptions, to get prescription I have to pay 30 dollars. I can’t believe, I have paid thousands and thousands to that vet , it’s sad they can’t write a prescription for us without money.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Getting a blood pressure reading from a cat is very different to getting a reading from a human being. I remember when Sheba used to get her BP taken at the vet, the vet often had to try several times to get it right. I think I remember @tiffmaxee might have had a BP machine. She might be able to advise you.

That is very disappointing the vet is charging you $30 for the prescription. Do you know how long the prescription is for?. If will be worth it if it lasts 6 months or a year. Ask the vet how long the prescription is for.

 

[JL and Chip]

I have a Vet-Dop blood pressure kit. It’s professional grade and works very well but it was expensive. I bought it 20 years ago and paid about $1000 (I saw a newer version recently for $1500).

It’s the same kit the university vet teaching hospital uses and I took it along one time to compare results (they matched exactly).

There are nuances to testing blood pressure at home; using the correct cuff size is one of them.

I haven’t researched blood pressure kits for pets in a very long time so I don’t know what’s on the market these days. I’d be very careful about trusting a machine that is inexpensive and would want to verify that the results were reliable.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I have the Vet-Dop2 and like it but is ~$1500. It does take practice to get a BG.
https://www.paragonmed.com/product-category/veterinary/veterinary-monitors/dopplers/
Some caretakers have had success with one like this:
https://www.amazon.com/CONTEC-Veterinary-Automatic-Pressure-Included/dp/B07P2CP42B
I have seen the same machine with different brandings.
Have one of these that measures BP and other parameters. It measures BP the same way, oscillometric, that the Contec unit useI can get BPs consistent with those I obtained with my doppler.
https://www.amazon.com/Vet-Veterinary-Patient-Multi-Parameter/dp/B07PK181PR
I also have found that using a Thundershirt on the can helps obtain accurate and repeatable BGs.

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Some caretakers have had success with one like this:
https://www.amazon.com/CONTEC-Veterinary-Automatic-Pressure-Included/dp/B07P2CP42B
I have seen the same machine with different brandings.

I have one that is very similar to this one and it does a pretty decent job both on cats and dogs, it may not be as accurate as the pro ones ( it is close ) but since going to the vet stresses them a lot which means the reading the vet takes ends up not being very accurate anyway I guess is ok, specially if you get to take the measure with a calm relaxed cat and you can take it as often as you need that alone can be a big plus.

Depending on how cooperative the cat is you may need to take a couple of readings sometimes, some times you get it on the first try, although for cats I would recommend you to get a baby cuff since the kids or adult ones they usually come with may be to big if your cat is not a big cat

 

[Din]

Thank you so so much everyone… I’ll reply to you all soon. Thank you again

 

[Din]

Getting a blood pressure reading from a cat is very different to getting a reading from a human being. I remember when Sheba used to get her BP taken at the vet, the vet often had to try several times to get it right. I think I remember @tiffmaxee might have had a BP machine. She might be able to advise you.

That is very disappointing the vet is charging you $30 for the prescription. Do you know how long the prescription is for?. If will be worth it if it lasts 6 months or a year. Ask the vet how long the prescription is for.

Thank you Bron, yes it’s disappointing, I call today again, but couldn’t get a proper answer because vet was not there. I’m going to ask mom again on Monday. Hopefully I can get at least 6 months prescription.

 

[Din]

I have a Vet-Dop blood pressure kit. It’s professional grade and works very well but it was expensive. I bought it 20 years ago and paid about $1000 (I saw a newer version recently for $1500).

It’s the same kit the university vet teaching hospital uses and I took it along one time to compare results (they matched exactly).

There are nuances to testing blood pressure at home; using the correct cuff size is one of them.

I haven’t researched blood pressure kits for pets in a very long time so I don’t know what’s on the market these days. I’d be very careful about trusting a machine that is inexpensive and would want to verify that the results were reliable.

Thank you so much for your reply JL. 1500 is something I can’t afford. I wish I can buy it for my Cierra. Unfortunately My budget is 150 - 200 dollars. sadly it might be true when it’s cheap it’s not giving accurate numbers. I m thinking to check BP weekly /daily at home from the matching . And occasionally from vet whenever we visiting the vet. Then they can not charge extra. Not greedy. Can’t afford even vet cost right now.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience JL.

 

[Din]

I have the Vet-Dop2 and like it but is ~$1500. It does take practice to get a BG.
https://www.paragonmed.com/product-category/veterinary/veterinary-monitors/dopplers/
Some caretakers have had success with one like this:
https://www.amazon.com/CONTEC-Veterinary-Automatic-Pressure-Included/dp/B07P2CP42B
I have seen the same machine with different brandings.
Have one of these that measures BP and other parameters. It measures BP the same way, oscillometric, that the Contec unit useI can get BPs consistent with those I obtained with my doppler.
https://www.amazon.com/Vet-Veterinary-Patient-Multi-Parameter/dp/B07PK181PR
I also have found that using a Thundershirt on the can helps obtain accurate and repeatable BGs.

Thank you so much Larry , seems like I can buy one from you listed above. I just googled Thundershirt. I never knew about it. It’s really good to know. Thank you again.

 

[Din]

I have one that is very similar to this one and it does a pretty decent job both on cats and dogs, it may not be as accurate as the pro ones ( it is close ) but since going to the vet stresses them a lot which means the reading the vet takes ends up not being very accurate anyway I guess is ok, specially if you get to take the measure with a calm relaxed cat and you can take it as often as you need that alone can be a big plus.

Depending on how cooperative the cat is you may need to take a couple of readings sometimes, some times you get it on the first try, although for cats I would recommend you to get a baby cuff since the kids or adult ones they usually come with may be to big if your cat is not a big cat

Thank you so much Veronica. Yes I felt same it’s expensive and stressful to go to vet. It’s good to know this one working. Thank you again.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

although for cats I would recommend you to get a baby cuff since the kids or adult ones they usually come with may be to big if your cat is not a big cat

You really usually need a neonatal cuff O uses a number 2 cuff, good for 4-8 cm circumference for my cats when measuring on the tail. One of my cats has no tail so I need a larger size to measure on the rear leg.

 

[Din]

Thank you Larry , this information is really helpful for me.

 

[Din]

Hi everyone I have a question again. Still I did not buy blood pressure , is anyone using human blood pressure machine with baby cuffs to check blood pressure??

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Hi everyone I have a question again. Still I did not buy blood pressure , is anyone using human blood pressure machine with baby cuffs to check blood pressure??

As far as I tried ( maybe got it wrong) it does not really work, probably it's because is not calibrated for them, as well as measuring your blood pressure with the pet one gets weird results ( I tried it more to learn how to use it before placing it on my cats and dog )

 

[Larry and Kitties]

As far as I tried ( maybe got it wrong) it does not really work, probably it's because is not calibrated for them, as well as measuring your blood pressure with the pet one gets weird results ( I tried it more to learn how to use it before placing it on my cats and dog )

I do not not think it is due to calibration, but rather that the transducer/electronics are not sensitive enough to detect the change when flow is obstructed by the cuff. The change is level for cats and dogs is a lot less than in humans.