Feline hypertension causes severe end-organ damage including blindness and neurological problems. Early detection and treatment prevents catastrophic welfare consequences.
Feline hypertension is a condition where delayed diagnosis converts a preventable welfare catastrophe into an irreversible one. Cats with severe uncontrolled hypertension can develop sudden bilateral retinal detachment — waking blind overnight without prior warning — or hypertensive encephalopathy causing acute neurological crises. These events are traumatic for cats and owners, and while prompt treatment can sometimes restore partial vision, permanent blindness is common when retinal detachment has been present for more than 12-24 hours. The tragedy is that regular blood pressure monitoring identifies hypertension before target organ damage occurs, and amlodipine treatment is effective, inexpensive, and well-tolerated. Every senior cat with CKD or hyperthyroidism should receive routine blood pressure monitoring.