Some REALLY Helpful Advice - Blood/Urine Tests

Hi,

Was just going back to my cats blood test and trying to reconcile the different results with normal ranges.   I was using the Washington State U site to help explain what the different items like BUN, bilirubin, ALT, etc were.  http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/lab.aspx

At any rate the problem I kept running into was that for almost every result that was abnormal it kept saying that dehydration could lead to out of range results.

Then it dawned on me that every time I was taking my cat to the vet for tests was when she was sick!!   Therefore there were no test results from when she was healthy to use as a baseline.

For example it showed her BUN level 3 times higher than normal.   The WSU site goes on to say that increased BUN indicates kidney desease.   BUT  it also says that pets that are severely dehydrated will show elevated levels of BUN.   So she could have had kidney disease but the test results were masked by her severe dehydration which was due to extreme vomiting.   

MY POINT IS I THINK IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT TO TAKE YOUR CAT FOR BLOOD/URINE WORKUP WHEN THEY ARE NOT SYMPTOMATIC AS TO ESTABLISH A HEALTHY BASELINE TO WORK AGAINST.

Again... should a competent vet explain to a pet owner to bring a cat back for another blood panel once their health improves - yes, I believe my vet let me down numerous times.    Had we done that it might have been clear she had kidney issues once the dehydration was removed and BUN levels remained high.

If money is the obstacle as it was partially for me... call around for prices.   One vet quoted $120 for bloodwork another was $340.   So while your pet is healthy, casually make some phone calls.  

Hope this helps everyone.   

To add to this my vet also suggests this as a yearly test for older cats which are more likely to suffer from all kinds of aliments or failures. Even then this is not a sure-fire way of catching all ailments because they can come on fast. My guy just had blood tests done the other week including B12 and it was roughly $267 CAD at his regular vet. His B12 levels had tanked but everything else looked fine and his kidney levels were still stable since the last test about 6 weeks before then. The last test was 6 weeks before the current one and it was mainly for B12 and it was just under $100 CAD. For the most part blood tests will not tell you what the problem is but they will give you an indication of problems or deficiencies which allows you to treat them. If your cat is sick you should also do a full blood and urine test and x-rays which can really help in diagnosing the issue. If money is a problem you should also consider pet health insurance when your cat is still healthy as I believe these can really help in a situation where the animal is really sick.

Great advice @zoneout  .

l've done this with two of my cats, and had baseline x-rays done for one of them. lt's very useful moving forward to have baselines, especially if changing vets, or having to see an e-vet who has no history of your cat's health.

Tanner had exam, rabies shot, and full blood test for $238.88