High blood pressure affects cat’s vision
Our daughter took our old family cat to grad school and she just called us frantic because the cat suddenly seemed to act blind, bumping into everything with dilated eyes.
We told her to get the cat into a vet immediately. It turns out that the cat has high blood pressure!
She was given medication for the cat and was told there is a good possibility the loss of vision is reversible as she caught it immediately. What are the odds of success? She was also told that in all likelihood the cat will need to take medications for the rest of its life.
Is treatment costly? We might bring the cat home if it is too much for her to handle. What do you suggest?
Hypertension is indeed a real issue in cats and not that uncommon, especially in older cats.
You’re fortunate your daughter quickly detected the problem by noticing the loss of vision and to get the cat in to a veterinarian. This kind of finding is usually due to retinal hemorrhage or retinal detachment.
The usual drug of choice for this event is amlodipine and it works quickly. This blindness probably has a good chance of being reversed due to her quick action. Timing is essential in this scenario. If the cat has vision problems for more than a few days, resolution of the vision loss may not occur.
Equally important is diagnosing the cause of the hypertension and this can be due to multiple factors needing treatment as called for. These include hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, heart disease, and even diabetes. Sometimes there is no obvious cause. Veterinarians take cat blood pressures just like physicians do with a cuff measuring systolic and diastolic values and cat values are typically higher than humans.
Luckily, most conditions can be treated with medications and cost is not always too high, depending on the amount of follow up visits and other factors. Very often, drugs like ACE inhibitors are used and your cat may already be also taking that. Besides assessing blood pressure, bloodwork and thorough physical examination should be diagnostic and allow for management of whatever underlying condition your cat has. This may also include dietary changes besides medications.
Lastly, I would probably leave the cat with your daughter at school to reduce stress. Consult with the veterinarian treating the cat and go from there. Hopefully by the time this is in print, your cat’s vision is restored.