Send Sweety healing vibes, please? bloodwork questions

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Jayne & Sweety

Jayne & Sweety

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Took her into the vet to have her bloodwork checked for the hyperthyroid med check (T4, ok, 2.4)- her bun 43 (was 33 - high protein diet) and creatinine 2.5 (was 1.7 on 2.1 high scale), after the urine sample came back there showed white blood cells, blood and bacteria, showing an infection, he will put her on antibiotics. I got the info on the answering machine, he was gone for the day when I called back...will talk to him tomorrow.
Before the urineanaylisis came back he said, from the CBC, that he thought her kidneys were starting to shut down.
Her WBC's are all really low. Phosphoros 5.8, calcium 11 (11.8 being high)
Also her ALT (?) was really low: 16 (20-100) - what does that mean? I have read what it is if it's high, but don't know what low means..
And her PLT is really low too: 103 (300-800)
I am really worried.
I know her teeth need attending to, and I am thinking I will get them done when the infection clears up, no matter what the cost now. Can the creatinine be reaised because of an infection? Can the higher reading be because I fed her an hour before the bloodtest I usually don't feed her so close to the appointment, but she hasn't been eating with the same "gusto" lately (I think becuase of the extreme heat) so when she wanted more, I gave it to her.

Need healing prayers & thoughts...
Any specific questions I should ask the vet tomorrw?
 
Re: Send Sweety healing vibes, please?

Jayne,

I can not answer any of your health related questions--I expect someone will stop by later who can. However, what I can do is send a cyber truck load of Healing Vibes to your precious Sweety!! You obviously love your cat very, very much and are doing everything you know to do to help her. She is very lucky to have you as her mom.

You and Sweety will be in my thoughts and prayers.

P.S. It might help to change or add to your subject title that you have some questions.
 
Re: Send Sweety healing vibes, please?

I wish I had some answers for you but I don't - I know how frustrating and worrisome it is to have them so sick.

I'm sending many healing vibes your way for Sweety. Will be watching for an update.

Emmy & Dude (& Mittsi too)
 
Found this link, hope it can help with some of the bloodwork questions.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 73&aid=987
if you google cats and the test "cats low..." you might get other hits.
Creatinine can be elevated temporarily by other health issues, Merlyns went up during his constipation unplugging and went back down a to where it was. Even if she is heading to kidney insufficiency, thats all that I would put it at with that creatinine level-depending on USG. The Phos is a little high. To treat a CRD cat with calcitriol its recommended that the phos be under 6, so going by that as a guideline its inching up there. What was her Potassium? The USG will also tell you what condition her kidneys are in.

But... did they didnt have time to do a culture and sensitivity, why would they give abs without knowing if there was bacterial growth/what its sensitive too?? Something is going on but not sure what. Some cats can have a little blood from the cysto too. Between urinary whatever and the teeth that could explain some of the wonky results.

Crossing all paws for Sweety! I hope shes feeling better soon.
 
Sending good healing vibes.

You may want to alert Jess (and Earl) to this post, as she is a vet tech and can probably decipher this for you.
 
Jayne & Sweety said:
after the urine sample came back there showed white blood cells, blood and bacteria, showing an infection, he will put her on antibiotics.

How was the sample obtained? Did they do a complete microscopic on it as well or just the dipstick?

Before the urineanaylisis came back he said, from the CBC, that he thought her kidneys were starting to shut down.

A CBC doesn't contain any indicators for kidney function. He can't get that sort of information from a CBC.

Her WBC's are all really low.

What was the WBC count? What type of WBC's were low? (and which type was elevated?)


Also her ALT (?) was really low: 16 (20-100) - what does that mean?

Nothing.

And her PLT is really low too: 103 (300-800)

It's common for cats to show low platelets on A CBC. That's because the platelets clump together and the machines can't do an accurate count. What really matters is what the slide estimate looks like.

I am really worried.

I don't think you have enough information to worry over yet.


Any specific questions I should ask the vet tomorrw?

I would need to see the complete set of results before coming up with any questions. Results should be analyzed together, not on an individual test basis.
Click to expand...
 
Deanie and Boo (GA) said:
Jayne & Sweety said:
after the urine sample came back there showed white blood cells, blood and bacteria, showing an infection, he will put her on antibiotics.


First, I made a mistake, there was no blood, just WBC's and bacteria.

"How was the sample obtained? Did they do a complete microscopic on it as well or just the dipstick? "

I got the sample free-catch in a sterile container I got from the vet, the sample was sent out. I will ask if they did a complete microscopic on it or a dipstick. I imagine a complete mic would be better. He gave me a number on the phone, something like...1, 8 (?)

Before the urineanaylisis came back he said, from the CBC, that he thought her kidneys were starting to shut down.

"A CBC doesn't contain any indicators for kidney function. He can't get that sort of information from a CBC."
He was looking at the BUN and Creatinine, they were raised. BUN, I know can be from the high protein diet, it was 43. Cretatinine was 2.5. And the urins SG came back 1.019 - though that is in the range of her other previous samples. The sample was the first urine of the morning.

Her WBC's are all really low.

"What was the WBC count? What type of WBC's were low? (and which type was elevated?)"
None were elevated - she is on Mathimazole, so that can lower the WBC's, right? He said he wasn't so concerned about that, and Ihave read that many older cats (she's 14) can be low with no consequences, is that right?
WBC: 2.9 (5.5-19.5)
LYM: 1.14 (1.5-7)
MON: .07 (0-7)
NEU: 1.54 (2.5-14)


Also her ALT (?) was really low: 16 (20-100) - what does that mean?

"Nothing."
Great - thanks!

And her PLT is really low too: 103 (300-800)

"It's common for cats to show low platelets on A CBC. That's because the platelets clump together and the machines can't do an accurate count. What really matters is what the slide estimate looks like."

I am really worried.

"I don't think you have enough information to worry over yet."

Thank you! I will try not to worry - and next time, I am going to have the bloodwork sent out - they did it on their in-house machine - which DID make a mistake once before.


Any specific questions I should ask the vet tomorrw?

"I would need to see the complete set of results before coming up with any questions. Results should be analyzed together, not on an individual test basis."
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

VetScan VS2
ALB: 3.7 // RBC: 6.86
ALP: 18 // HGB: 13.2
ALT: 16 // HCT: 39.22
AMY: 910 // MCV: 45
TBIL: .2 // MCHC: 33.5
BUN: 43 // RDWc: 18.1 // NE%: 52.9
CA: 11 // PLT: 103 // EO%: 5.2
PHOS: 5.6 // PCT: .14 // BA%: 0.1
CRE: 2.5 // MPV: 13.4 // T4: 2.4
GLU: 148 // PDWc: 40.1 // CHOL: 213
NA+: 153 // WBC: 2.9 // HEM: 1+
K+: 4.3 // LYM: 1.14 // LIP:2+
TP: 7.7 // MON: .07
GLOB:4.0 // NEU: 1.54
QC: OK // EOS: .15
HEM: 2+ // BAS: 0.00
LIP: 0 // LY%: 39.4
ICT: 0 //MO%: 2.4

He's got her on 1ML Amoxicillen 2x/day for two weeks and then we test the urine again.

Any light you can shed, I would be eternally greatfull - thank you!
 
Hi Jayne
Jayne & Sweety said:
I got the sample free-catch in a sterile container I got from the vet, the sample was sent out. I will ask if they did a complete microscopic on it or a dipstick. I imagine a complete mic would be better. He gave me a number on the phone, something like...1, 8 (?)
Click to expand...

If it was a dipstick that said there were WBCs, it's unreliable. Cat urine will show a positive for WBCs on urine dipsticks. If they saw a ton of bacteria on the slide, though, that is supportive of a UTI.

And the urins SG came back 1.019 - though that is in the range of her other previous samples. The sample was the first urine of the morning.
Click to expand...

This is low, which does indicate some loss of kidney function. Saying her kidneys were shutting down is a little dramatic IMO though.

None were elevated - she is on Mathimazole, so that can lower the WBC's, right? He said he wasn't so concerned about that, and Ihave read that many older cats (she's 14) can be low with no consequences, is that right?
WBC: 2.9 (5.5-19.5)
LYM: 1.14 (1.5-7)
MON: .07 (0-7)
NEU: 1.54 (2.5-14)
Click to expand...

Uh, I'm worried about it. Methimazole can cause these changes, so if this is her first CBC after starting methimazole, you need to closely follow this. Neutrophils at 1.54 don't put her in the "OMG" range, but it's worrisome as it could get worse. Do you have a CBC from before starting the methimazole?

Lymphocytes often test low in cats that are stressed out, and it's true that some older cats have mildly reduced WBC counts without any apparent reason. The correlation with starting the methimazole is worrisome, though.

and next time, I am going to have the bloodwork sent out - they did it on their in-house machine - which DID make a mistake once before.
Click to expand...

Yes, have it sent out next time. If the WBC count is low, the lab tech will verify this by looking at the blood with a microscope.
 
Hi Jess
Jess & Earl said:
If it was a dipstick that said there were WBCs, it's unreliable. Cat urine will show a positive for WBCs on urine dipsticks. If they saw a ton of bacteria on the slide, though, that is supportive of a UTI.
Click to expand...

I didn't get a copy of the results today when I picked up the antibiotics, but I will tomorrow, and I will ask which way it was done - thank you!
And the urins SG came back 1.019 - though that is in the range of her other previous samples. The sample was the first urine of the morning.
Click to expand...

This is low, which does indicate some loss of kidney function. Saying her kidneys were shutting down is a little dramatic IMO though..
Click to expand...
Thanks, He did say it isn't progressing rapidly, but we would want to intervene as soon as possible. I am looking into low phos foods though.

None were elevated - she is on Mathimazole, so that can lower the WBC's, right? He said he wasn't so concerned about that, and Ihave read that many older cats (she's 14) can be low with no consequences, is that right?
WBC: 2.9 (5.5-19.5)
LYM: 1.14 (1.5-7)
MON: .07 (0-7)
NEU: 1.54 (2.5-14)
Click to expand...

Uh, I'm worried about it. Methimazole can cause these changes, so if this is her first CBC after starting methimazole, you need to closely follow this. Neutrophils at 1.54 don't put her in the "OMG" range, but it's worrisome as it could get worse. Do you have a CBC from before starting the methimazole?

Lymphocytes often test low in cats that are stressed out, and it's true that some older cats have mildly reduced WBC counts without any apparent reason. The correlation with starting the methimazole is worrisome, though.
Click to expand...

No, this isn't the first CBC after starting methiamzole, actually it's the...5th. She has been on the meds a year April. We started the meds very low, at my insistance, and slowly worked up to 5mg/day. She's been on that dose for just over 8 months. Her starting Lym was 2.57 on 3/20/09, then every month or so: 1.61, 2.47, 1.4, 1.05
The low wbc's do make her more suseptible to infections, right? I kept asking about the low levels and he didn't seem concerned. Now, after reading everything, again, on them, if there's an infection, shouldn't they be high? Except, as I've read - and of course worried - that they can drop because the body can't make enough...
What symptoms would I see if they get too low? But you did mention that they can read low if the cat is stressed out - she definately was, poor baby was shaking.

and next time, I am going to have the bloodwork sent out - they did it on their in-house machine - which DID make a mistake once before.
Click to expand...

Yes, have it sent out next time. If the WBC count is low, the lab tech will verify this by looking at the blood with a microscope.[/quote]

From now on, I will. It's good to know that someone will double check the results. The one time their in-house machine made a mistake, it was on the calcium (read <4) and the potassium (2.4) - I came here and asked and was told to ask for another test - and the results, 3 days later, were normal.
Thank YOU very much!
 
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