Healthy cat, Low platelet count and concerning results

AB00

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Greetings, So my cat foolah (a single brown horse-beans in arabic 😅) is 1 years old, female, spayed, and of mixed origins (sherazi and domestic shorthair i believe) she sometimes (4 times in the span of 7 months) would have a small bout of diarrhea. very little, right before her litterbox, and when i check on her stool i find it firm, we went to the vet and he thinks it might be a because i feed her many different brands of wet food, and think i should either stick to dry food only (?) or stick to dry + one wet food brand she seems to do better on (i tested and fed her one type of wet for 3 days each, documented the results and he noted that her stool is firmer on one brand and softer and more yellowish on the others).

In any case, i already decided i'm going to do a cbc and chemistry test yearly and i might as well start now for my peace of mind, i attached the results, but according to the vet everything is good except her platelet are low, the vet seemed confused by it, asked if she eats well, she does, she weighs 3.1 kg, and i feed her 25 grams dry food, and 85 grams wet food, he then suggested i give her some vitamins tablets and do another test 2 weeks later

So here is where i need your insights:
1. i looked up low platelet in cats and there were no mention of not eating well, all the reasons are very concerning, leukemia and toxins among other things, my question is could vitamins really help fix this? is there a benign reason for having low platelet counts?

2. when i finally received the results many values seems to be borderline low, things like EOS, NEU and BAS%, can someone help me interrupt them?

She is very healthy, or at least looks very healthy, she does nap most of the day but when she's active she very active able to do some crazy jumps, she is clean, she eats her food and drink her water, what steps should i take to ensure that she is in fact healthy?

Thank you

PS: I don't live in an advanced country when it comes to pet care, this clinic is the best in the country, but still i find myself not trusting their word and medical recommendations and have to keep checking, i hope i'm wrong

Another PS: All her vaccinations


Cat Tax
40893 Foolah.jpg
 

Antonio65

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Hi A AB00 ,
the blood test results you have attached look like they have been generated by an in-house machine, not by a specialized lab.
What the results don't tell is if platelet aggregations occurred. It a rather common problem especially with cats where blood clots or start clotting before it gets in the lab for testing. A platelet aggregation reduces the number of platelets to be counted by the machine, and it often results in a low platelet count. A normal blood test report should also say if an aggregation took place and the severity of it.
As for the rest it seems fine, though I'd keep an eye on her Potassium (K) level which seems too low in my opinion.
 
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AB00

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Hi A AB00 ,
the blood test results you have attached look like they have been generated by an in-house machine, not by a specialized lab.
What the results don't tell is if platelet aggregations occurred. It a rather common problem especially with cats where blood clots or start clotting before it gets in the lab for testing.
Thank you, would it make a difference if the results where ready within an hour? according to the time stamp i think it was measured within 15 minutes of blood draw, but i received the call after an hour with the results
also will work in the Potassium issue
 

tarasgirl06

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Hello A AB00 and Foolah (cute name, by the way) and welcome to TCS! Antonio65 Antonio65 has the expertise to give info on those results, but I would just like to add that most experts do NOT recommend dry food as an exclusive diet for a cat. Most recommend as high a quality wet cat food as you can afford. I feed half a tin 3 times a day, and have high quality dry for free feeding as a snack. Fresh water at all times, too. We have a cat fountain plus I keep 3 bowls of water around for them. Not sure what kinds of wet food are available to you, but get the best you can. Please keep us informed, won't you?
 

Antonio65

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Just realized my post from yesterday didn't get through. I'm re-writing it.

It mostly depends on how the sample was taken and handled in the couple of minutes after the draw.
Sometimes, if the sample is drawn too quickly or too slowly can make the difference. Then how the sample has been handled in the vial, if it's been correctly mixed with the anticoagulant in the vial.
Too a quick draw can destroy the red blood cells, too a low draw can create clottings and hence the aggregations.

It seems that cats' blood is really hard to handle. Even experienced vets can get a "useless" sample, and in fact several of blood reports for my cats (and I can assure you I have dozens of those papers) have the foot note "platelets aggregation" and hence a low platelet count.
 
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AB00

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@Antonio65


okay, manged to get my hand on a cbc test from another clinic, can you tell if it's an in-house machine? if not i could redo the test there, it looks the same but i'm hoping i'm missing something
 

Antonio65

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The reason why I thought it was an in-house test is because the report they gave you is a print on thermal paper, typical of those machines, rather than a A4 or pdf report.
Anyway I could be wrong, maybe in your country things works that way. In my experience, every time I had a receipt-like report it was from a in-house machine.
I hope this time they left a note about the platelets, adequate or aggregated.
 

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Agreed with Antonio65 Antonio65 . It is very hard to not get clumping with drawing a CBC on kitties. The vet should have done a smear to look at in-house. Then they would have seen either clumps or not enough platelets. Unfortunately in-house bloodwork does have its limitations. As far as keeping an eye on the potassium, as A AB00 said, I would retest in a few months if it is possible. I would not supplement with anything other than a normal vitamin (but honestly, from the looks of the blood, I’m not seeing a need). As in do not supplement the potassium with a straight potassium supplement. it is one of those electrolytes that is bad high and low. All the rest of her values are with in normal limits (WNL). Even a low normal is still normal but they should be retested. I see your vet recommended retesting in a few weeks. I would do that. Has she been dewormed? Did they run a fecal test? (Tho that won’t affect the platelets-it just should be done for the health of the kitty). Did your vet test for the basic feline diseases? Feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonitis, feline immuno deficiency virus? Aka FELV, FIP, FIV. If they have any leftover blood, you may be able to call them and request it. Pay for it over the phone if possible.
 

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@Antonio65


okay, manged to get my hand on a cbc test from another clinic, can you tell if it's an in-house machine? if not i could redo the test there, it looks the same but i'm hoping i'm missing something
Ya. That’s in-house testing.
 
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AB00

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@Antonio65


okay, manged to get my hand on a cbc test from another clinic, can you tell if it's an in-house machine? if not i could redo the test there, it looks the same but i'm hoping i'm missing something
oh i forgot to attach the image, sorry



@ Xena44 Xena44
No to everything, she has taken a deworm pill 6 months ago i think, asked for them again and the vet said no need since she's an indoor cat.

Thanks everyone, i have already sent an email asking if they took platelet aggregation into account, i don't think i'm getting an answer, it would be within the expected levels of unprofessionalism we have to deal with, phones wont work, but i will try another clinic and have a talk with the vet there
 

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Antonio65

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Is the print date, bottom left, right?
I don't know if this print is from an in-house machine, it may be, it may be not, but again it doesn't say anything about platelets observation.
I think you should look for a clinic where they follow higher quality standards, like an idexx certified lab, if available in your area, or a lab with similar capabilities.

As a side note, if the platelets are low for real, this might affect the blood clotting. Many labs, in a CBC report, measure the clotting time, indicated with PT and aPTT. If these levels are above the range, then it is possible that the platelets are low (as your reports say) along with possible issues with the clotting factors.
 

Xena44

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Is the print date, bottom left, right?
I don't know if this print is from an in-house machine, it may be, it may be not, but again it doesn't say anything about platelets observation.
I think you should look for a clinic where they follow higher quality standards, like an idexx certified lab, if available in your area, or a lab with similar capabilities.

As a side note, if the platelets are low for real, this might affect the blood clotting. Many labs, in a CBC report, measure the clotting time, indicated with PT and aPTT. If these levels are above the range, then it is possible that the platelets are low (as your reports say) along with possible issues with the clotting factors.
Totally agreed about the clinic with outside lab capabilities. If that’s possible.
 

mani

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Totally agreed about the clinic with outside lab capabilities. If that’s possible.
I just wanted to note that A AB00 has said:
I don't live in an advanced country when it comes to pet care, this clinic is the best in the country
so it looks like that's not an option.
 

silent meowlook

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Hi. Didn’t read replies so probably said. Most likely platelet clumping. So if a blood smear was read I am sure they would find enough platelets. So blood analyzer problem, not cat problem.
While I think that blood analyzers for in house lab are great, sometimes if not calibrated and kept up it can give results that are slightly off.
The sample was also hemolyzed so some of the red blood cells were lysed, damaged, during collection and that can make the reading slightly off as well.
It is important to always read a blood smear when doing in house lab work, but I swear, sometimes I feel like the only one doing it.
 

silent meowlook

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As a side note, if your cat is eating and seems healthy I wouldn’t worry about the potassium. Cats run a little on the low side.
Sounds like you have a happy healthy acting cat that had occasional diarrhea due to diet change. Stick with one canned food that works well for her. Having a yearly vet check is a good idea.
 

Xena44

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Hi. Didn’t read replies so probably said. Most likely platelet clumping. So if a blood smear was read I am sure they would find enough platelets. So blood analyzer problem, not cat problem.
While I think that blood analyzers for in house lab are great, sometimes if not calibrated and kept up it can give results that are slightly off.
The sample was also hemolyzed so some of the red blood cells were lysed, damaged, during collection and that can make the reading slightly off as well.
It is important to always read a blood smear when doing in house lab work, but I swear, sometimes I feel like the only one doing it.
You just might be the only one. Exasperating isn’t it.
 
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