My Kitten's Spay Was Cancelled (alp 652)

After losing my beloved, 17-year-old cat, Moe Moe in July, I've adopted a beautiful little baby girl named Fiona (Fifi). She's now about 5 months old, and as of 3 weeks ago, she weighed 5.25 lbs, so was given the all-clear for her spay.

A pre-op blood test caused the whole thing to be postponed because her ALP was 652! I know ALP can be moderately elevated when a kitten is still growing. The vet gave her a second de-worming treatment, and will follow up a week after her second dose. I personally don't think it's a parasitic infection because my other cat, Leo, isn't experiencing the same in his bloodwork (he's due for a dental extraction tomorrow, and I had planned to let them both recuperate together). He had bloodwork done 3 weeks ago at his regular annual appointment in anticipation of his dental surgery. His ALP was within normal range.

What is wrong with my baby girl?? Anyone else experience this? She's otherwise a boisterous, playful, spunky, loving, adorable kitten, who brings us great joy.

What would his bw have anything to do with hers? I am confused why you said that. But I would just follow the vets recommendation and wait until the bw is back to normal. We had to postpone bw just today on a 5 month old kitten spay. Her bw was totally normal but when intubating her, her entire throat swelled up and she started coughing. The vet immediately reversed her and gave her a steroid injection to wake her back up. Now she is being treated for lungworm. When that clears we will try again. Just goes to show you never know, no matter how healthy the pet seems. There could always be underlying issues you cannot see.

I forgot to ask, what did the vet tell you are the next steps?

Higher ALP can also indicate active bone growth in kittens. If it was a parasitic infectation that had caused it, the other cat most likely had the parasites too, that's why his bloodwork and hers are linked. There is often elevated ALP in cats that is temporary and really means nothing. She is an active, healthy kitten,I would bet it is normal next time, and not liver damage like it usually indicates in older cats.

di and bob said:

parasitic infectation that had caused it, the other cat most likely had the parasites too, that's why his bloodwork and hers are linked

Click to expand...

Yep, that's exactly why I linked the two. I'm sorry I was unclear. I'm a bit delirious from working like a madwoman the last few weeks

jen said:

I forgot to ask, what did the vet tell you are the next steps?

Click to expand...

They gave a second round of the dewormer (I am to give the second dose in a few weeks). We will then have a follow-up appointment, which they are going to plan as her spay (assuming that her labs come back normally this time). If they don't, they said they'll discuss next steps from there.

My first inclination was to dismiss it as bone growth, but at 652, it's higher than would normally be attributable to simply growing bones, which is why I thought I'd ask here if anyone else has experienced anything similar.

Thanks very much for your responses and support!