Blood Work

LTS3 said:

The only one I know is GLU which is blood glucose. Your cat's level at he time of the blood draw was 168 mg/dl. The reference range for the vet office testing equipment is 74 mg/dl to 159 mg/dl. 168 is just outside of the reference range which is why the result says High. Normal blood glucose level for a healthy cat ranges anywhere from approximately 60 mg/dl to 150 mg/dl and "normal" can vary for each individual cat just like it can for people. Many cats are also stressed out at the vet's office and that can cause blood glucose levels to temporarily rise. I would not worry about the 168 blood glucose level at all.

I'm not sure if antibiotics are routinely given after a simple cleaning The cats I've had who had denals always need a tooth pulled so they were on meds for a few days afterwards. if the vet prescribed the antibiotics I would give them to the cat just to make sure infection doesn't set in if the gums were irritated too much during the cleaning.

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Ashekitty said:

I have one more question actually. I was told to give her antibiotics for two weeks!! Is that normal? That seems like a long time.

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NewYork1303 said:

More or less. A normal length of time for antibiotics is 10 -12 day. Discontinuing early is very bad and helps create medication resistant bacteria. 

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Ashekitty said:

My cat just got a dental and I got her blood work done... a few things are high and some are low. Can you help me interpret these?

GGT: High (7 U/L) Reference Interval (0-4)
GLU: High (168 mg/dL). Reference Interval (74-159)
HCT: 28.8% Reference Interval 30.0 - 45.0

Also: They gave me antibiotics for her even though she didn't get any teeth pulled? They said it was just in case, since it is a pretty invasive procedure. Is that normal?

Thank you!

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Geoffrey said:

I am a human doctor, not a vet.  However "GGT" stands for Gamma-GlutamylTransferase and if elevated it suggests a liver abnormality.  It should be followed up with a repeat GGT and full liver function tests.   An isolated and unexpected high result like this is not diagnostic on its own.  The ALP (or Alkaline Phosphatase) is usually abnormally high if there is liver disease and if the ALP is normal the significance of a high GGT is in doubt.  This should be discussed with your vet.


'HCT" stands for haematocrit and this is a haematological result similar to a haemoglobin result. This appears to be normal and you should have no concern as there is no anaemia.


As for antibiotics, they are usually prescribed because feline teeth are usually dirty and any dental interference such as dental cleaning, can cause bacteria to be liberated into the blood stream.  Your vet appears to be very careful and that is why he has prescribed a full fortnight course.

With all best wishes,
Geoffrey

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Ashekitty said:

 

Thank you so much! Do you know how long I should wait to get another test done? Also, do you know if there is anything else elevated GGT levels could mean besides liver disease?

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Geoffrey said:

The repeat GGT could be done at any time but this is something that you should really discuss with your vet. 

To my knowledge, a raised GGT does not suggest anything else of significance, but cats are different from humans and I am not a vet.

Geoffrey

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