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RemydeHaviland · 12-26-2020, 12:39 PM

Greetings YTers

Does anyone have experience - and success - monitoring your Yorkies blood pressure at home? If so, will you please comment or PM me with any information and input?

Background -- Remy is now 12, his birthday was in August.

He was diagnosed with a heart murmur in November. The murmur is a grade 3, and is on the left side. His x-rays show an enlarged heart. We went to UC Davis last week and they did an echocardiogram, confirming he has mitral valve disease (MMVD).

At this point he has not progressed to congestive heart failure and our goal is to slow down the progression of the valve disease to forestall congestive heart failure (water building up in his lungs) as long as possible.

His blood pressure did test quite high, both at my local vet and at UC Davis. Due to COVID I was not able to be with him in either location which greatly increased his stress so it is unclear what his "resting" blood pressure may be.

UC Davis did prescribe two meds - amlodipine (for blood pressure) and benazepril. He was on them for 48 hours and suffered a strange occurrence where he collapsed and had trouble getting back to his feet. I called UC Davis and they suggested to stop the meds (which I had already determined I was going to do). He has been fine since. UC Davis would like me to restart just the Benazapril this week. This is to benefit his heart and it will also have some impact to lower his blood pressure. I will try it Monday and see how he tolerates it. I am also monitoring his breathing rate daily, using a great app called Cardalis to keep track of his stats.

All in all, I think I have tackled this pretty well and despite the unfortunate and sad situation that this is a progressive disease for which there is no cure I feel like we are giving him the best chance to slow it down.

My question about taking blood pressure at home is the one missing link. If I could get a better sense of his true resting blood pressure it would be enormously helpful. Does anyone have experience taking blood pressure at home? From what I was reading I could get a neo-natal blood pressure cuff... but am unsure if this will be successful. Would GREATLY appreciate any input or feedback.

Many thanks

12-26-2020, 12:39 PM	#1
RemydeHaviland Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire Posts: 640	Taking Blood Pressure at home? Greetings YTers Does anyone have experience - and success - monitoring your Yorkies blood pressure at home? If so, will you please comment or PM me with any information and input? Background -- Remy is now 12, his birthday was in August. He was diagnosed with a heart murmur in November. The murmur is a grade 3, and is on the left side. His x-rays show an enlarged heart. We went to UC Davis last week and they did an echocardiogram, confirming he has mitral valve disease (MMVD). At this point he has not progressed to congestive heart failure and our goal is to slow down the progression of the valve disease to forestall congestive heart failure (water building up in his lungs) as long as possible. His blood pressure did test quite high, both at my local vet and at UC Davis. Due to COVID I was not able to be with him in either location which greatly increased his stress so it is unclear what his "resting" blood pressure may be. UC Davis did prescribe two meds - amlodipine (for blood pressure) and benazepril. He was on them for 48 hours and suffered a strange occurrence where he collapsed and had trouble getting back to his feet. I called UC Davis and they suggested to stop the meds (which I had already determined I was going to do). He has been fine since. UC Davis would like me to restart just the Benazapril this week. This is to benefit his heart and it will also have some impact to lower his blood pressure. I will try it Monday and see how he tolerates it. I am also monitoring his breathing rate daily, using a great app called Cardalis to keep track of his stats. All in all, I think I have tackled this pretty well and despite the unfortunate and sad situation that this is a progressive disease for which there is no cure I feel like we are giving him the best chance to slow it down. My question about taking blood pressure at home is the one missing link. If I could get a better sense of his true resting blood pressure it would be enormously helpful. Does anyone have experience taking blood pressure at home? From what I was reading I could get a neo-natal blood pressure cuff... but am unsure if this will be successful. Would GREATLY appreciate any input or feedback. Many thanks __________________ Susanne and Remy