Blood pressure measurements in dogs and horses by oscillometric technique:personal observations

A group of 49 dogs and 33 horses, both including healthy animals as well as subjects affected by different diseases has been tested by an oscillometric technique for blood pressure evaluation. This device, easy to perform, is able to automatically determine heart rate and systolic and diastolic pressure, calculating also the mean value. By these technique we obtained repeatable measurements in horses and dogs weighting over 8 kg. Dogs affected by renal disease and Heartworm disease showed significantly higher values for systolic and diastolic pressure when compared with the normal group. Dogs affected by diabetes mellitus showed significantly higher values for diastolic pressure. Moreover, in dogs no interaction was identified between sex and blood pressure. In horses no significant differences were found related to sex, age and athletic performances.