Effects of oral propranolol on the resistive and pulsatility indices of major abdominal vasculatures in domestic short‐haired cats

BACKGROUND: No study has been performed regarding the effects of oral administration of propranolol on pulse‐wave spectral Doppler indices of major abdominal vessels in healthy adult cats. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the pulse‐wave spectral Doppler indices of abdominal aorta, caudal vena cava, and portal vein in clinically normal adult domestic short‐haired (DSH) cats, before and after propranolol ingestion. METHODS: Twenty intact adult client‐owned DSH cats were evaluated (10 males and 10 females). A duplex Doppler ultrasonography machine with a 10‐MHz frequency linear transducer was used. Peak systolic velocity, end‐diastolic velocity (EDV), resistive index (RI), pulsatility index (PI), and pressure gradient were measured. All the cats received 1 mg/kg of propranolol tablet, and after 2 h, ultrasonography measurements were repeated. RESULTS: The mean RI of the aorta and caudal vena cava significantly decreased in male cats following oral administration of propranolol after 2 h (p = 0.03, p = 0.02). In the caudal vena cava, the PI decreased from 2.98 ± 0.62 to 1.15 ± 0.19 post‐propranolol ingestion (p = 0.01). The mean EDV in the caudal vena cava of males and portal veins of females significantly decreased after propranolol ingestion (p = 0.04, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that propranolol decreased the PI of the aorta and PI and RI of the caudal vena cava in healthy normal cats 2 h post‐propranolol ingestion at the dosage of 1 mg/kg.