By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Get a free blood pressure screening…for your elderly dog or cat.
As the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals celebrates its 145th anniversary this month, one of the nonprofit's events will be Saturday's blood pressure testing at the Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital, a 24-hour center it runs on the Upper East Side.
"We wanted to offer something that would directly help animals in a tangible way," said Dr. Louise Murray, vice president of the ASPCA's facility on East 92nd Street between First and York avenues. "We also wanted something educational. The vast majority of people don't know that they're pet can develop hypertension or how devastating it can be."
Untreated hypertension can result in sudden blindness or stroke, she said. It can also cause kidney disease over time.
"The sudden blindness is even more common in cats," Murray said. "They literally detach the retina. The pressure literally blows off the retina. In a person, they would have been getting headaches or had blurry vision. You would have known there was a problem. But a pet can't communicate that."
Murray would like to see all middle-aged dogs, over the age of 5, and middle-aged cats over the age of 7, get screened.
Cats at greatest risk for hypertension are those with kidney disease or a thyroid condition, Murray said. Dogs most at risk are those that commonly get Cushing's disease, such as Dachshunds and poodles. Those with kidney disease are also at higher risk.
Blood pressure screening for pets is becoming more mainstream, Murray noted, but some animal hospitals still don't have the measuring equipment, which is a cuff similar to what "human doctors" whenever patients come for a visit.
"We do all these fancy things for animals, yet most of them have never had their blood pressure taken," said Murray's whose hospital is staffed by 22 veterinarians, including specialists in orthopedic surgery and gastrointestinal endoscopy.
"It breaks my heart to see a cat come in with blindness that could have been avoided if you just put a little cuff on its arm. It just takes a matter of minutes."
Treating pets' blood pressure is the same as treating their owners', with such popular medications as Amlodipine, Murray said. Sometimes exactly: "A lot of time people say, 'Oh, I'm on that same medication.'"
The ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital (424 East 92nd St.) is offering free blood pressure screening on Saturday, Apr. 9, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. by appointment only. To schedule an appointment email BMAH@aspca.org or call 212-876-7700 ext. 4200.
