CONTEC08A-VET Digital Veterinary Blood Pressure Monitor Dog/Cat/Pets Small Cuff Size 2.3”-4.3”

So important to be able to monitor my cat’s blood pressure
I have a relatively young cat with early onset, chronic kidney disease. To make matters worse he also has developed hypertension. Unfortunately, he’s so nervous at the vet is very difficult to get an accurate reading. After he was put on medication, I knew it would be important to monitor him. Even if it’s not perfectly accurate, I know the trends will be accurate. I also know that if I use it consistently on the same limb with the same tightness at the same time every day that this would provide value to me and my veterinarian. It was very obvious when my cat was put on blood pressure medication that the machine was responsive. You could totally see a steady improvement. And now he has been consistently within the same safe range and it’s quite closely aligned with what the veterinarian measures with their Doppler +/- a small correction for “white coat syndrome”. My cat weighs only about 7.75lbs and I’m able to use the small size cuff. It’s important to make sure that you adjust the blood pressure monitor to match the cuff you are using or you will not get accurate readings. What I also love about the machine is it gives you the beats per minute (BPM). This is actually a great way to make sure the cuff is properly placed and fit. If the BPM is ridiculously low, you know there’s something wrong. I’ve also worked in the veterinary field, so I know how to count my cats BPM manually as well so I can gauge that the machine is pretty spot on. This has been a godsend not just for my cat, but also for my vet because it records all the readings and maps out the trends. Most importantly, it’s good for me and my peace of mind because I love my cat to death. You cannot put a price tag on that.

It works, have patience, try different methods and use the right sized cuff.
It works. Some comments say its not accurate or doesn’t get a reading. Welcome to the world of BP monitoring where many of the readings taken in the vets office are unreliable or don’t register. Why do you think the VET takes so many BP readings? Its because even the very best BP monitors are not 100% accurate or work 100% of the time. You should take 5 readings and average. The problem is that in todays world everyone thinks everything is 100% or it doesn’t work. Your pet could move and the reading is way off. If you move when you take your own BP it will should a crazy high number. Yet, so many pets are checked and they move around, a cat hears the dog barking in the vets office, a dog smells another dog and turns around. Those readings are worthless but often result in your pet getting put on medication. The same happens with people in the doctors office.I got this to check my cats BP. The cuff is ok in size but then its a large cat. The cuff will not work for a smaller cat so you might need to get a smaller cuff. Don’t blame the monitor, get the right sized cuff.At first I could not get a reading, it would time out. Then I re-positioned the cuff making sure it was as close to the cats rear end as possible (using tail check method). All of a sudden I could get 5 readings without a problem. Like anything, you need to practice and find the best method and stop blaming the monitor, do it right, have patience and expect to change cuff positions and locations to get good readings.What I found was that one VET diagnosed hypertension and prescribed meds. Another VET said no hypertension. So we got this monitor and it said the same things as the 2nd VET, no high BP. Now we have a monitoring device so we can check the cats BP regularly. It might take some time for your pet to get used to it, our cat is very chill so it was easier but in any case, don’t rush anything and take your time. If you don’t have patience how do you expect your pet to react? They sense your emotions and get anxious if you are.This monitor works fine. Like anything, its possible to get one that has a fault but so what? Return and get another. The screen display is easily readable, the buttons all work just as they should and for the price you likely won’t find better. It is easy to use if you take your time and consider what you are supposed to be doing, monitoring your pets BP. I looked at brands costing up to $1000 or more. Its BP monitoring, not rocket science. How you check the BP is far more important than the cost of the monitor. Do it wrong or in a hurry and the best machine made will give bad results.Its easy to use, turn it on, press the start button and wait. If your pet is anxious I recommend checking it while they are resting and do it at the same time every day for a week. Let your pet get used to it and even reward them after. Speak to them quietly and praise them and they will relax. Don’t have others standing around, why are they there?I’m glad I got this monitor. It didn’t break the bank, it matches the reads close enough to what the VET did so monitoring is accurate enough. No, it’s not exactly like at the VET but as everyone should know there is no such thing as 2 BP readings that are exactly the same, not for people and not for pets. Relax, do it right and just know BP is always an approximate, never an exact reading. If you get 3 reads and one is high, check again. If your pet moves even a little bit that reading is no good. SO when you go to the vet, does your cat or dog move around when they check BP? I bet they do. At home I can get our cat to lie perfectly still and purr while I check the BP. As a result, 5 good reads but one high because he decided to lay on his other side. I check BP again and now I got a good reading and could average the 5 readings out. Result? Close to what the 2nd VET found, no high BP.

Not sure if it is worth the price
A tad bit difficult to use on my 9-lb shih tzu. Keeping him still while taking his bp is a challenge. We take multiple readings each time just to be sure. About 25% of our readings give us very high or very low data. It does take about two minutes to inflate and take the reading. It fits my dog’s leg just fine. I just wish it was more consistent and wasn’t so sensitive to minor dog movements.We’re ordering a stethoscope as a backup.