Abstract: Background - The prevalence of arterial systolic hypertension (SH) in cats with diabetes mellitus (DM) has been reported infrequently, in a small number of small studies, and ranges between zero to 37%. Objectives - To determine the prevalence of SH in a large group of cats with DM and to report the clinical characteristics of cats with DM and SH. Animals - 750 cats with DM including 733 cats without SH and 17 cats with SH, all examined at a university teaching hospital between January 1st, 2011, and December 31st, 2021. Methods - Retrospective longitudinal study. Medical records of diabetic cats were searched for keywords “hypertension”, “blood pressure”, “amlodipine”, “benazepril”, and “telmisartan” to identify cats with (17) and without (733) SH, which was defined as systemic arterial blood pressure ≥160 mmHg. Comorbidities including chronic kidney disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and hyperthyroidism were recorded. Hospital period prevalence was calculated by dividing the number of cats with DM and SH by the total number of cats with DM. Results - The hospital period prevalence of SH among cats with DM was 17/750 or 2.3%. Most cats (15/17, 88%) with DM and SH had at least one other concurrent illness including chronic kidney disease (12/17, 71% of cats), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (7/17, 41%), and hyperthyroidism (4/17, 23%). Conclusions and clinical importance – the prevalence of SH among cats with DM is low. Cats with DM and SH should be evaluated for the presence of concurrent illness.
