Video: How to Lower Pets' Blood Pressure

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Hypertension, or high blood pressure, exists in many pets, and it can occur as a result of thyroid problems or kidney disease. Discover what medications can be used to lower pets' blood pressure with help from a staff veterinarian in this free video on pet health and pet care.

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Video Transcript

Let's talk about how to reduce blood pressure in animals. And so blood pressure is a problem in a lot of animals actually, it's not something that's discusses greatly like it is in humans when we think about hypertension in people. But it does occur in a lot of animals. It can occur due to thyroid problems, it can occur due to kidney disease, things like that and heart disease as well. There are consequences of having high blood pressure in animals and that is if you do have high blood pressure, the heart, the kidneys do not appreciate that and those organs can get worse over time. And so the way we deal with blood pressure in cats and in dogs is to use medications. We a lot of times use vasodilators that decrease the overall blood pressure and thereby allowing the heart to pump the blood better and allowing those kidneys to get a better blood supply and not have to deal with the high blood pressure at all times. And so there are consequences with high pressure in these animals. Another thing that is you can do at home is to watch the diet. Salt is the enemy of blood pressure. If there's more salt in a diet, the blood pressure is going to be higher. A third thing to think about is environment. If the environment is stressful, blood pressures can be higher. So grooming, petting gently at home, talking to your pet, spending time with your pet actually has been shown to improve blood pressure in them and decrease their stress and it is also beneficial for you.

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How to Lower Pets' Blood Pressure

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