Canine Blood Pressure Measurement : Studies of Blood Pressure in Dogs

1991 was one most significant year for dog lovers… especially for veterinarians. Before this some of the clinical measurements for animals – especially for dog couldn’t be determined perfectly, since measuring veterinary blood pressure used to be quite difficult. It wasn’t until 1991, when the Royal Veterinary College had initiated a research project, that canine blood pressure measurement used to be almost an unread subject for vets. The Royal Veterinary College’s project aimed at the validation of a technique for measuring BP in companion animals – especially canines. The researchers also aimed at making sufficient measurements of canine BP to determine the normal range of blood pressure in dogs.

It’s not easy to measure canine blood pressure. Blood pressure in dogs can be measured directly by using a needle in an artery, where the needle is linked to a pressure transducer. There’s also an indirect approach of measuring blood pressure in dogs. Indirectly the dogs’ blood pressure can be measured by using a cuff as in the familiar sphygmomanometer. In fact direct measurement of BP in dogs is too stressful to carry out and shows the blood pressure in a particular artery of the dog, but not the BP of dog. Blood pressure in a particular artery means pressure created by blood in large blood vessel that carries the blood that’s pumped away from the heart. Direct method is hence an inappropriate approach to measure BP in dogs. Indirect method of measuring blood pressure in dogs by using cuff, manometer and stethoscope is again too complicated, although it’s quite simple for humans. The difference is, in case of humans the sound used to determine the blood flow (Korotkoff sounds) is clearly audible, while it cannot be heard in veterinary species. Thus for veterinary, unless the Korotkoff sounds is electronically amplified, the indirect method of measuring blood pressure in dogs is considered to be of a useless method.

The device used by the researchers of the Royal Veterinary College project for measuring dogs’ blood pressure indirectly was a Dinamap. It is a hi-tech instrument that operates automatically according to the inflation and deflation of the calf. The device has been engineered in a way that it also detects the pulsatile changes in pressure influenced by the blood flow just under the culf and then only the blood pressure of dogs is assessed correctly.

Now where to put the calf? There are a few places in the dog’s body where the calf can be put while determining BP in dogs. While most veterinarians put the calf on hind limbs and fore limbs, but the base of the tail is the appropriate place as it gives most reliable and precise reading of the blood pressure of dogs, according to researchers. Hence the right technique for measuring BP in dogs involves monitoring Dinamap readings in conjugation with a calf applied either on hind limbs or fore limbs or tail base… tail base preferred.

STRESS IN DOGS may be one major reason for hyper-tension in dogs. Also read out my posts on DOG CARE TIPS Anesthesia or sedation is not desirable when measuring canine blood pressure, because most forms of chemical restraint tend to have impact on the blood pressure in dogs as in any other species.

Stay tuned to read about more about blood pressure of dogs!