Making Sense of Labwork

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Nick & Binx

Nick & Binx

Member Since 2023
Hey everyone!

I got lab work done on Binx a few weeks ago, the day he was diagnosed. The vet that did the work was not very communicative, or well informed on diabetes, so I switched his vet. In the process I asked the previous vet for his lab work.

I've looked up a few things, but I'm not really sure how to interpret this. It's easy for me to send myself into an anxiety wormhole when I look into why his results in certain areas may be high/low. The previous vet really gave me no information.

I was hoping some knowledgeable people on here could help me make sense of some of this information. It is in my SS. The one that confuses/concerns me the most are his Platelet levels, they seem really, really low. But the vet never said anything about it.

Could someone please shed some light on how to interpret this information?

Thanks!
 
Nick & Binx said:
Hey everyone!

I got lab work done on Binx a few weeks ago, the day he was diagnosed. The vet that did the work was not very communicative, or well informed on diabetes, so I switched his vet. In the process I asked the previous vet for his lab work.

I've looked up a few things, but I'm not really sure how to interpret this. It's easy for me to send myself into an anxiety wormhole when I look into why his results in certain areas may be high/low. The previous vet really gave me no information.

I was hoping some knowledgeable people on here could help me make sense of some of this information. It is in my SS. The one that confuses/concerns me the most are his Platelet levels, they seem really, really low. But the vet never said anything about it.

Could someone please shed some light on how to interpret this information?

Thanks!
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I can tag Suzanne for you, she great at reading labs
@Suzanne & Darcy
Thanks Suzanne
 
I'm confused mainly with his Platelets, and I'm shocked it was never mentioned to me by the vet. I read a bit about them, but I'm trying not to jump to any conclusions on my own, lol.
 
Any chance you saw the word "clumped" near the platelets results? That often happens and gives artificially low numbers. There should also be a comment by the reviewing vet at the labs to that effect. It's usually an artifact of the blood collection or processing.
 
No notes indicating anything, just blue highlighter indicating it's low out of range.
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Thanks! I was reading a bit in other thread and saw that being said before, too. That makes sense, thank you!
 
Typically when a machine count of platelets is low a blood smear is made and stained and examined under a microscope by a person. Usually the microscopic examination shows that platelets are clumped (this is not uncommon for cat blood) and examination should an adequate amount of platelets.

Here is what a results for my Boots:
Scanning of the blood film revealed adequate platelet numbers. Due to
clumping, the automated platelet number cannot be accurately determined.
 
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