Cat Lab Tests

Because cats hide disease until it's advanced. Kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes — the big three of feline aging — are all detectable in lab work years before symptoms show, when treatment changes the disease's whole trajectory.

A complete blood count, organ chemistries (kidney and liver especially), electrolytes, thyroid hormone, and a urinalysis. Together they cover the conditions responsible for most feline illness after age ten.

It's a quick in-house blood test for the two most important feline viruses. Every new cat should be tested before joining a household, after potential exposure (bite wounds from unknown cats), and when unexplained illness appears.

The most common ones we see in kitties are kidney disease (especially in older kitties), hyperthyroidism, and urinary tract infections. Diabetes is also on the list.

So, there are a bunch of different things to examine in lab work. Some values reflect organ function or organ abnormalities. Some are electrolytes, which can go in conjunction with organ function abnormalities. Thyroid level is critical, and our CBC, which is our blood cell count. The CBC checks for anemia and elevations in white cell counts, indicative of inflammation or infection, and urinalysis. So, we're looking for our concentration ability in the kidney and any signs of urinary tract infection.

Not always, but it gives us an excellent starting point. Blood work will provide us with a lot of information about organ function, diabetes, urinary tract infections, and hyperthyroidism. Sometimes we have to add on more lab work to the screening panels to make a further diagnosis. And sometimes, we'll recommend additional imaging like an abdominal ultrasound or x-rays to figure out exactly what's going on.

Well, the earlier we detect it, the better chance we have at managing it appropriately. So, if we catch a problem early, we can start treatment early, we can change our diet early, and it reduces the risk that the kitty is not going to respond to treatment.

Very similar to people. We use a needle, and we draw from whatever part in the kitty that is comfortable for them. Most frequently, that's going to be one of their limbs, either the front limb or back limb. If it's more comfortable for the kitty, we might draw from the neck, but it depends on what works for them.

It's about the same as a person. So your furry friend will feel a little prick in the area. But other than that, they don't seem to mind too much.

Kitties are very stressed-out creatures in general, so we always try to minimize stressors as much as possible. We like to keep them in a room by themselves where there aren't any dogs in the background or people that can scare them. We usually have at least two to three people on the case, one drawing the sample, one holding and petting the kitty, and maybe one distracting if we think that it's necessary.

A couple of reasons. Most commonly, we do kitten lab work in preparation for their spay and neuter. So we always want to check lab work before they go under anesthesia to make sure it's safe for them. Otherwise, we'd do lab work if there are any signs of illness— vomiting, weight loss, if their appetite is down, and also there's some viral testing we like to do on kittens as well.

It depends on what the numbers are. Generally, we like to check the lab work once a year, depending on the kitty's age, to see where the numbers are going. And other than that, it depends on what the results are. If you notice kidney disease, we like to monitor those values periodically. If we start on any medication, we recheck the lab work afterward to monitor the response of the medication. If the cat is sick or there's any change in how they're doing at home, we do lab work. The last thing we consider is some additional tests to our screening lab work. Sometimes we add on other tests like urine culture or extended thyroid panels if it's not completely clear on the lab work what's wrong.