We covered the basics of assessing pulses in MBS assessment but now we are going to take things further. We’ll go into much more detail about pulses on the slides about specific perfusion abnormalities. But to give you an idea of taking things further (please don’t get disheartened!) I suggest that you should start trying to feel how distended the femoral artery is BETWEEN BEATS! Does it stay distended or does it collapse between pulses? This way you can get even more information about the intravascular volume status and even the tone in the arterial wall. If you can appreciate this then you are a Pulsologist! Another challenge for you budding pulsologists is to be able to still feel the femoral arteries in a cat with aortic thromboembolism and no pulses. I think it is interesting that the pulse you feel pretty much mirrors an arterial pressure tracing (apart from the dichrotic notch that is: and there’s Brownie points for an explanation of the dichrotic notch). While we are on arterial pressures, who knows where the mean pressure falls with respect to systolic and diastolic? If you look at the trace you can almost guess.Can I also share with a very common misconception regarding feeling pulses. Many people suggest because the pulse is determined by the difference between systolic and diastolic pressures that you can’t tell the difference between 120/80 and 80/40. This may be true in anaesthetised patients but it is JUST PLAIN WRONG in conscious patients!!!! A hypotensive patient has much shorter and narrower pulses.