10/4 Leo bloodwork/draw question

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tracy & Leo

Tracy & Leo

Member Since 2011
Howdy LL,

Leo's BG for today
AMPS 146
+3 74
+5 77

So Leo is doing well and I am still at TBP until Friday. I spoke to Leo's grandpa this morning and Leo has been busy mousing and enjoying the great outdoors. Grandpa said Leo wanted to go out yesterday at 4:30 am so he let him out, Leo proceeded to catch and eat 4 mousies in the hour and a half before his AMPS!!!! Why we even feed him FF is totally beyond me and how there are even mice left at my parents is amazing as well!

So dental day for Leo is a week from today and Friday when I get off the plane from work I go straight to the vet with Leo to get his pre-dental bloodwork done. Our old vet (at the same clinic) would only do a blood draw while Leo was anesthetized, now we have a new, younger vet and I'm really hoping she's not of the same mind-set. So what I wanted to ask is how does everyone go about blood draws? Kitty awake and wrapped up? Or kitty put to sleep for a few minutes and blood taken that way? I'm not a big fan of Leo being put under for a blood draw, plus it's gotta come with some risks...right?

Opinions greatly appreciated!!!

Hope beans and kitties are doing great. :-D
 
Hi Tracy

Glad Leo is doing well!!!

We always miss you when you are working and that's quite the schedule having to get in and go straight to the vet.

I don't have any good suggestions for you....our kitters are pretty good about letting the vets draw blood. I'm not a fan of anesthesia for blood draws. The only other thing you can do is see if they can run a quick panel the morning of the dental. They should give him a little sedation to calm him before the anesthesia and they could do the bloodwork then if they can run it in-house. If they can't, I'd want them to find some other way to take the blood without freaking him out...some cats do better if they take it from the back leg instead of the jugular.

Good luck and let us know....it will be great if others have suggestions.
 
What wonderful numbers for Mr. Leo!!! 4 mousies in an hour and a half. Could you imagine how many mice your parents would have without the big guy? Unbelievable!

Tarragon is really docile at the vet and they just put him in their lap and draw the blood. My vet always comments that he is the perfect patient and she needs to make a video for all other kitties out there to watch so they know how they should act. :lol: Even Turnup, who they call fractious, has had her blood drawn while awake. Hopefully some others will come along and give their experiences.

Yay for coming home Friday! Hope you have a great rest of the week!
 
Well from what I've heard from the vet is that Leo is quite the feisty little character! No docile cat whatsoever! :lol: plus old vet was a fan of drawing from the jugular and not the leg. The only place that analyzes blood is the vet college and it usually takes a day for the results to come in, so no same day draw is possible.
 
Hi Tracy,
Love those mousies!
I had the same dilemma about the pre-dental blood draw and bloodwork earlier this summer. My old vet wanted to put Rusty under because he considered him "fractious". (I think he considers all cats "fractious"; he thought Stu was "fractious," too.) I didn't like the idea of anesthesia for a blood draw because I had heard that one of the reasons to have bloodwork was to see if it was safe to put your cat under anesthesia. I posted here and got a lot of good comments. I decided to tell the vet we would do the bloodwork later in the year. And then I found a new vet! While interviewing her I asked what her policy was for giving anesthesia for a blood draw and she said "oh I would never do that; there are always better alternatives for calming a cat" (paraphrase).

Anyway, here is a link to one of Rusty's condos where advice was given. It includes a post by you. There are several other days with comments in Rusty's condo, but the gist is the same.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=45813

Hope this helps.

Ella

p.s. Rusty had his bloodwork with the new vet and she said he was a sweetheart--no problem at all.
 
Zoe is considered fractious (to me, that must mean extra sweet ;-) ), she has had blood drawn from both her juglar and her leg and she as never been put out. Our old vet used to draw the blood right in the exam room....our new one takes her to "the back room" :roll:

Wow on the mousies......they don't have a chance with Leo around!
 
Hi guys .. I agree, wow on the mousies, good job leo! We've never had our kitties put under for blood draws .. they always take them to the back room .. I'm ok with that, as I'm very queasy around needles/blood .. Neither mocha nor twix are calm kitties at the vets .. but we've never heard of them having a hard time drawing blood ..
 
Master mouse Leo! :lol: :thumbup :thumbup I'd be leery of the anesthesia for the blood test too. It shouldn't be necessary if the vet knows what he's doing. Back in MN our vet used to call Cleo, The Beast, she went ballistic there. (He was a friend and preferred to come over to our house than have her in the clinic for vaccinations!) I still don't think he put her out for blood tests. Have you tried Feliway or Rescue Remedy before taking him in?
 
Feliway or Rescue Remedy??? Would that stuff be sold at Petsmart? I've got VERY limited time to haul my butt off the plane, drive the hour to the vet and at the same time have my dad drive with Leo over to the vet to meet me......would we need more time for the Feliway or Rescue Remedy? If its sold at Petsmart i can pick some up on my way and give it a try.

I'm really going to fight not to have him anesthetized, i don't think its a good idea....plus i'm already freaking out over this dental as it is! nailbite_smile Leo isn't a biter, but he is a slapper/whacker......I guess that makes him "fractious".

Poor Leo AKA mouse killer is going to have to take it easy after his dental, no mouse killing for at least a few days. He is getting 4 teeth yanked that we know of, maybe more once the vet takes xrays.

Thanks everyone for the opinions/experiences, i really thought more kitties were put under for blood draws.....i guess that isn't the case at all :roll:
 
Feliway is at Petsmart, you can ge a diffuser or a spray. I spray Tess's carrier. Rescue Remedy would probably be easiest to find at a health food store. You can put it in food or water or rub a drop in his ears. Be sure to get the pet one w/ no alcohol. If he is a slapper definitely a claw trim beforehand. Could your dad do it?
 
just want to add my 2 cents as a vet tech for 16 yrs its sooooo much better for a cat to have anesthesia for BW then for the cat to struggle you have no idea how much stress a cat goes thru being held by 2 people if the cat is a not behaving cat and one person for a good cat I am a very good cat handler but at least half of the cats at our clinic would get gas to get BW mine included in this number since abys are very high strung so as much as you are against this in reality it is less stress on the cat at least from my experience and also JMO as well
 
Hi Tracy, I;ve missed you and forgot that Leo was at Grandpa's getting spoiled. Oh my gosh, four mousies! Leo, you are one good mouse catcher? You've gotten a lot of good advice here about the bw. Maggie is real docile, so she makes it easy on the Vet. I've heard good things about the Rescue Remedy.
 
Champ is just like Tarragon....voted best cat with blood draws!!! They take the blood from the jugular. They always bring him back and tell me he's an absolute angel!

So poor Leo is getting at least four teeth pulled?!! That might put a damper on the ability to munch those mousie bones (ewww). I don't think you need to feed him the FF if he's just eaten the mice. He might be able to lose some weight!!
 
My girl, Casey, is a handful when it comes to drawing blood. My vet said they need 3 poeple in order to do blood work. 2 to hold her down/still and the 3rd to draw the blood; but I do not recall her ever being put under for it.
 
All vets tell me that J.D. is "a keeper". I ask what do you mean by that? and they say he is sooo good. They don't know that he is scared like crazy, and that's how he acts when he's scared, just kind of freezes. My vet draws the blood from the jugular right in front of me, with a vet tech holding J.D.'s head still.
 
My vet doesnt knock 'em out for blood draws, either. The take the kitties to the back room to do the deed. Last January, for his annual bloodwork, Mario let out such a screech that I honestly thought he was seriously injured, and it sent the vet running to the back room, too. He was OK - just POed and apparently smacked over a bottle of alcohol. Of course now with his hyperT, kidney, and liver issues, he's had a number of blooddraws since, and I'm always a nervous wreck when he has to go in. In never even thought that anesthesia was an option for a blood draw...
 
Tracy & Leo said:
Geez am I the only one with a rotten cat that needs to be anesthetized for blood draws??? :lol:
Click to expand...


No I have lots of cats that have to have this done Do Lou's vet will gas down for many different things for my cats we use isoflurane at our vets not sure what your vet uses but they go down quick and wake up quick as well I even gas down any aby kitten that needs a microchip done since the chip is so big and that way they do not feel the pain of insertion
 
hi tracy! i think punkin has not been anesthetized for blood work, but he was "given a touch of gas" for a cystocentesis. i would prefer no anesthesia, but can see lisa's point that you don't want them scared to death.

thinking i should suggest a "touch of gas" to the lab next time my daughter has to have blood taken. she insists on having her finger lanced and having them squeeze the blood out. :shock: i keep telling her it's far worse than having a regular blood draw.

great job on the mousies, leo! :lol:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top