Keynote Message

Systemic hypertension is a well-recognised condition in the cat with potentially high morbidity relating to target organ damage (TOD). The classification systems used for hypertension in veterinary medicine suggest the presence of both idiopathic and secondary disease-associated hypertension, with common conditions associated with hypertension including kidney disease or endocrine disorders such as hyperthyroidism, hyperaldosteronism and less commonly, hyperadrenocorticism, and pheochromocytoma. This lecture will focus on the pathophysiology of hypertension as currently understood in feline medicine in these disease conditions. Using the currently available evidence base, this lecture will draw comparisons between the implicated mechanism for cats with underlying renal versus endocrine disease and where knowledge gaps exist, will explore some of the information that may be applicable from either human medicine or experimental studies.

Key References

1.  Jepson RE, Warren HR, Syme HM, Elliott J, Munroe PB. Uromodulin gene variants and their association with renal function and blood pressure in cats: a pilot study. J Small Anim Pract. 2016;57(11):580–588. doi: 10.1111/jsap.12582.

2.  Bijsmans ES, Jepson RE, Chang YM, Syme HM, Elliott J. Changes in systolic blood pressure over time in healthy cats and cats with chronic kidney disease. J Vet Intern Med. 2015;29(3):855–61. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2Fjvim.12600.

3.  Jepson RE, Syme HM, Elliott J. Plasma renin activity and aldosterone concentrations in hypertensive cats with and without azotemia and in response to treatment with amlodipine besylate. J Vet Intern Med. 2014;28(1):144–53. doi: 10.1111/jvim.12240.

4.  Williams TL, Elliott J, Syme HM. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activity in hyperthyroid cats with and without concurrent hypertension. J Vet Intern Med. 2013;27(3):522–9. doi: 10.1111/jvim.12062.

5.  Jepson RE, Syme HM, Vallance C, Elliott J. Plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine, symmetric dimethylarginine, L-arginine, and nitrite/nitrate concentrations in cats with chronic kidney disease and hypertension. J Vet Intern Med. 2008;22(2):317–24. doi: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2008.0075.x.