Did You Know That Your Dogs Can Develop High Blood Pressure?

Did You Know That Your Dogs Can Develop High Blood Pressure?

Did you know that your dogs can also develop high blood pressure? It’s not a recent disease, but vets didn’t start looking for it as a disease on its own until very recently. When it’s a standalone disease that isn’t acting as a symptom of some other disease, it’s known as hypertension.

What Are The Symptoms of Hypertension?

Here’s an incomplete list of possible things to look out for.

  1. Protein and blood in the urine.
  2. Eye hemorrhage.
  3. Seizures.
  4. Nosebleeds.
  5. Heart murmurs.

Your vet can confirm this diagnosis by taking blood pressure readings, which are performed in the same manner as with people – with an inflatable cuff and a machine.

What If It’s Secondary Hypertension?

More commonly, hypertension shows up as a symptom of some underlying disease. In that case, you will have to tackle the main illness first, before the hypertension can be managed.

Either way, it’s important to check with the vet, to diagnose the issue and its possible causes.

What Are The Causes of Standalone Hypertension?

There’s really no singular cause for high blood pressure in dogs – however, things like genetics and preexisting illness have been noted to play an effect in the development of hypertension. Diet also plays an important role, especially if it is high in sodium. Your vet should be able to advise you on the matter.

Feature Image Source: Pixabay

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