Feline Blood Pressure Validation Study

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine is currently recruiting healthy felines of at least one year of age.

Enrollment Status: Completed 

Inclusion Criteria: A cat of at least one year of age that is healthy, willing to travel without medications.

Exclusion Criteria: Any feline that has a history of hyperthyroidism, renal disease, hypertension, or has recently been under sedation or anesthesia (within 12 hours).

Treatment: Upon enrollment, your cat will be selected at random, to be enrolled in 1 of 5 groups which will test the devices in different orders (e.g., Doppler, OTC, PetMap, or OTC, Petmap, Doppler, etc). Upon arrival to the hospital, the cat and owner will be placed in a quiet exam room with the cat allowed to move about and explore the room as they wish. A small area on the bottom of the tail will be shaved (leaving sufficient room for a blood pressure cuff to sit comfortably closer to the body). The cat will then be allowed to relax and move about as they wish for a period of 5-10 minutes. The cat will then be placed in a comfortable laying position and gently restrained to keep from moving (this may include using treats/food rewards to soothe) during the blood pressure measurements. A period of 10 minutes between devices will be instituted to allow the cat to relax and explore as desired before being gently restrained for the next device. The same individual will perform all measurements on each cat; however, the order of measurements will vary between cats, with at least 6 cats will be in each group. 

Cost: The study will cover the cost of measuring your cat’s blood pressure. There are no additional expenses for participating in this study. The costs of all other procedures, i.e., other than those listed above in section 8 of this form, are NOT covered by the research study. Clients will be responsible for all clinic costs. An estimate of costs for which you will be responsible will be prepared for you at the time of admission.  

Contact: Please complete the Study Interest Form for more information;  Small Animal Hospital Phone: (352) 392-2235; Clinical Trials E-mail: vm-clinicalstudies@ufl.edu 

Investigators:

Dr. Julia Wuerz, DVM, 352-258-3623,  wuerzj@ufl.edu  

Dr. Amy Stone, DVM, PhD, Dip ACVPM, 352-284-2375, stonea@ufl.edu

Background: The purpose of this study is to determine if a low-cost computer system-based blood pressure measuring device (over the counter (OTC) is a reasonable tool to aid in monitoring feline blood pressure. While we do expect the OTC may be less consistent (i.e., show more variation) than a traditional blood pressure cuff and/or Doppler probe, the goal is to confirm that the OTC’s results will be at least as reliable as a similar, but more expensive, but clinically proven (validated) system “Petmap” (in particular for the systolic readings and heart rate).