Blood pressure monitoring is a cornerstone of patient care, whether you’re conducting routine wellness checks, assessing anaesthetic risk, or managing critically ill patients. Our CAT+ Doppler and AutoCAT+ monitors are both excellent choices for their reliability and consistency. While they share the same goal (delivering accurate, repeatable results), each model is optimised for slightly different clinical needs. Understanding these differences can help you make the right choice for your patients, your workflow, and your team.
Let’s look at the key use cases and see which monitor works best for each:
The CAT+ Doppler is recognised globally as the veterinary gold standard for measuring systolic blood pressure. Using Doppler ultrasound technology, it detects blood flow with exceptional sensitivity, making it particularly effective for small patients, hypotensive cases, or situations where subtle haemodynamic changes could be missed by other methods. The ability to hear clear pulse audio also gives clinicians additional confidence in the reading – an obvious advantage in complex or borderline cases.
By contrast, the AutoCAT+ uses advanced oscillometric technology to provide two key values (systolic (SYS) and diastolic (DIA)) automatically. This makes it especially useful when you need a full BP profile quickly, such as when you’re working through multiple routine checkup patients in a busy clinic. Both devices deliver clinical-grade accuracy, but their methods differ.
If accuracy is your key deciding factor, both monitors are excellent choices – but the CAT+ Doppler has a slight edge over the AutoCAT+.
With the CAT+ Doppler, readings are taken manually. This requires inflating the cuff, listening for the return of the pulse, and noting the systolic value. While it may take slightly longer, many clinicians value the extra control and the reassurance of being able to audibly confirm blood flow. This is particularly important in tricky cases with flighty patients where a machine reading may not account for motion artefacts, and might leave you second-guessing the result.
The AutoCAT+, on the other hand, is built for speed. One-touch operation and automatic inflation/deflation allow you to get readings in moments, reducing handling time and helping to keep patients calm. For routine checkup cases (or for nurses working solo) the speed and automation can make a big difference to workflow efficiency, without compromising measurement quality.
If speed is your deciding factor, the AutoCAT+ takes the trophy.
Both the CAT+ Doppler and AutoCAT+ are designed with flexibility in mind, making them suitable for use across a wide variety of species and patient sizes. They utilise the same high-quality cuff system and are fully compatible with the complete range of veterinary blood pressure cuffs, from the smallest neonatal options to large dog cuffs. This compatibility ensures that your team can work confidently with any patient that comes through the door, whether it’s a tiny exotic mammal, a cat, a medium-sized dog, or a giant breed without compromising on accuracy, patient comfort, or workflow efficiency. By using one consistent cuff system across both monitors, training is simplified and equipment management is streamlined, helping your practice maintain a smooth and reliable blood pressure monitoring protocol for all cases.
Both monitors weigh in equally here – either choice provides you with a good range of patient adaptability.
For feline patients, stress-free handling is essential to obtaining accurate readings. The CAT+ Doppler meets the International Cat Care (iCatCare) Cat Friendly Clinic standards, meaning it supports low-stress protocols while maintaining clinical excellence. Its proven accuracy in cats — particularly those that are stressed, small, or unwell — makes it a top choice for feline-focused practices.
The AutoCAT+ also performs well with cats, thanks to its quiet pump and rapid measurement cycle, which helps to reduce patient anxiety. However, for cases where maximum accuracy is required (such as senior cats, renal patients, or cats with suspected hypertension) Doppler technology remains the recommended gold standard.
For feline patients both will work well – but again, the CAT+ Doppler has the edge.
While both the CAT+ Doppler and AutoCAT+ provide accurate systolic blood pressure readings across all species, the AutoCAT+ goes further by offering additional parameters such as heart rate, ECG, SpO2, respiration rate and temperature. These extra data points help clinicians form a more complete picture of a patient’s overall health, supporting faster, better-informed decision-making. By combining multiple sources of real-time data, the AutoCAT+ allows your team to detect subtle changes earlier, tailor treatment more precisely, and deliver the highest standard of patient care.
If you require more data than simply blood pressure – the AutoCAT covers more ground.
If your priority is absolute accuracy, especially for small, critical, or hard-to-handle patients, the CAT+ Doppler will give you the highest confidence in your readings. Its manual control, audible confirmation, and proven reliability in challenging cases make it a favourite among experienced clinicians.
If you need speed, automation, and full BP parameters at the touch of a button, the AutoCAT+ will streamline your workflow while still delivering consistent, clinical-grade results. It’s a great choice for busy consult rooms, anaesthesia monitoring, and situations where you need multiple readings quickly.
Many practices find that these two devices complement each other perfectly, using the AutoCAT+ for quick, routine measurements and the CAT+ Doppler for gold-standard accuracy when it matters most.
That’s why we offer the CAT+ Bundle: a cost-effective package that includes both monitors, giving your team the flexibility to choose the right tool for each patient and scenario.
With the bundle, you’re ready for anything – from a routine feline health check to a high-stakes emergency case – without compromise.
🔗 Find out more about the CAT+ Bundle here: https://www.thamesmedical.com/cat-bundle-landing-page/
