Primary hyperaldosteronism is an increasingly recognised endocrine disorder in older cats. Understanding its welfare implications and treatment enables better outcomes.
Feline hyperaldosteronism causes welfare impacts through the combined effects of severe hypertension — which causes retinal bleeding, strokes, and organ damage — and hypokalaemia — which causes progressive muscle weakness that eventually results in inability to stand. The condition typically has an insidious onset with subtle signs that owners may not recognise as a specific medical problem until muscle weakness becomes pronounced. Earlier recognition through blood pressure monitoring in senior cats and awareness of the association between hypertension and hypokalaemia enables earlier treatment that prevents the welfare harm of advanced disease. Medical management with appropriate medication can produce dramatic improvement in affected cats, and the welfare reward of treatment is significant.