Help Interpreting Blood Test Results

[lavishsqualor]

I was wondering if I might prevail upon some of you sciencey smart folks to help me understand Atticus's blood test results.

We went to the vet today because I didn't think he'd pooped in about five days. Turns out he has been pooping surreptitiously when I'm not watching. Evidently I've been mistaking his litter-box deposits for Thirteen's because Atticus's colon was clean as as whistle on x-ray. My normal vet whom I love is on vacation and had a very nice young lady filling in for her who suggested a "mini" CBC. She told me that everything was fine but when I was handed a copy of his results at checkout I noticed that some of his values are outside the normal ranges.

Can anyone offer some insight as to what's going on with him? Atticus is raw fed and I want to be sure he's getting everything he needs. I'm a little worried.

Thank you so much!

 

[Neo_23]

I have used this website before to try and decipher blood work: What Do Your Dog And Cat's Blood And Lab Work Results Mean ? DxME

It’s pretty decent, but I also think that we need to be cautious with interpreting the results ourselves. I think that just because something isn’t in the “normal” range isn’t necessarily a red flag, it has to be interpreted holistically. If you’re really worried about something I would just call your vet and ask.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I agree completely with Neo_23 , often stress can cause numbers to be high or low in cats, or it takes a combination of certain numbers to be "off" for a Vet to be suspicious of anything. Like you, I panic at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary, but I'm sure if there was anything to worry about, this substitute Vet would have brought it to your attention.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Arrrrgggggggg!!!! I honestly wish I'd never taken Atticus in today. For the vet to have said, "Everything looks fine," this was the worst vet visit we've ever had. For one thing, Atticus has just now stopped crying. He cried from the time we walked in the house until about an hour ago. He kept it up for so long that I called the vet back twice! Believe it or not, one of the techs claimed that it's a common response to an especially stressful visit. Atticus wondered around from room to room all afternoon, wild-eyed and scared looking, and meowed in his sad, plaintive voice. He could not be comforted no matter what I did. At one point he even tried to get back in his carrier!

SON OF A !!!!!!!

The substitute vet did a jugular blood draw and it took several tries to actually hit his vein. She didn't shave ANY of his fur and just tried to wing it. Atticus was REALLY unhappy while she was inserting the needle and I have marks on my palms from digging my nails in while watching.

Once we got home Coosie started meowing and walking from room to room. After several hours of meowing in his sad, scared little voice I called the vet and she said it was normal. After FOUR HOURS I called again. This time I also asked the receptionist about clarifying his blood work for me and she said the substitute vet would call me back before the end of the day . . . and that never happened! My regular vet would NEVER leave without returning a call.

I am so TOTALLY OVER today!!!!

I just feel like I let Atticus down and I don't ever want to do that.

PLUS, I STILL DON'T understand his blood work.

And you wonder why I'm half way through an entire bottle of Chardonnay.

 

[Neo_23]

I’m so sorry. I know exactly how it feels to have a shitty vet/visit. Poor kitty. I hope he feels less stressed soon.

 

[lavishsqualor]

That's very kind of you, Neo_23. Unfortunately, I suspect he's still a little out of sorts. He's lying on my bed now with his tail thrashing and twitching.

I'm still perturbed and I've had an entire bottle wine.

Poor Atticus has only had some water and a few Pure Bites.

But seriously. Thank you.

 

[furmonster mom]

Ack! So sorry you guys ended up with such a stressful day.
I can sympathize. There is one doc at our vets that I refuse to deal with because of one bad experience with her. And after that experience, I gave my regular vet an earful over it.

So, from what I can tell from the link that Neo_23 provided:
ALKP is low... associated with liver values... usually concerns come up when they are too high, so the vet is not concerned on this being low
K is border low... either vit K, or Keytone. You can probably adjust vit K with diet. Low Keytone is a good thing.
MCH & MCV are high... this is hemoglobin and blood cell size... high levels may be indicative of anemia. There are many causes of anemia, but they would probably be reflected in other values. Since most of the other values are in normal range, my guess would be he could use a little more B12 in the diet.

Of course, these are just interpretations based on my own understanding of the information given. Hopefully, it will give you a little breather, though, and also some starting points when you DO get to talk to your regular vet.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Thank you so much, furmonster mom! You've made me feel a lot better and I really do appreciate it. And the same goes to Neo_23 and mrsgreenjeans.

Atticus is better today but still off. Plus, I happened to catch him in his litter box whilst pooping. He's still dong the same thing that originally led me to believe he was constipated: He will dig excessively in his box, then posture to defecate, then dig some more, posture again, and finally poop. But it looks like he's having a difficult time. When he postures to poop it appears that he's having issues sealing the deal, so to speak, so he starts over with his digging. He will finally be able to go but it didn't use to be this much of a production.

And today while I was watching he passed an unusually long stool and it got stuck! He was sniffing around in the box trying to figure out where it went and it was still hanging out of his bum! I had no choice but to intervene. [**WARNING -- GROSSNESS AHEAD**] I didn't have time to get any gloves or paper towels, so I did what any good cat dad would do: I grabbed the poop with my bare hand and pulled.

For a raw fed cat, this was a REALLY long stool. I'm now wondering if that's because I added more psyllium husk than normal to their last batch of food. This particular stool was also extremely low residue and not overly hard at all. In fact, after grabbing and disposing of the poop, I realized that there was absolutely nothing on my hand at all. The extra fiber hasn't bothered Thirteen but now I'm wondering if I should toss this batch and start over. I hate to do that because it's made with lamb hearts and livers which they both really like. Aside from the fact that it was ridiculously long, it was a beautiful piece of poop!

I've been worried about megacolon but the substitute vet dispelled those fears yesterday when she said she didn't see anything on Atticus's x-ray.

Now I'm worried again.

And my regular vet is in Europe and won't be back for three more weeks.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Maybe instead of tossing that batch of food, make another an feed them off and on from both batches? Would be an awful shame to waste that batch. I'm guessing you keep it in the freezer, no? It should stay good for some time.

 

[furmonster mom]

I like mrsgreenjeens idea.

How old is Atticus? Sometimes, y'know, things just don't move as well as they used to. But if they're moving, then I'd say that's progress. Hard to say why he's having difficulty; if the poop isn't super dry and hard (from too much bone or calcium), then that would rule out constipation in my book. Soft-ish poop might be tricky, but shouldn't be problematic. The psyllium may have contributed to the volume, and maybe it's just tricky for him to keep the muscles engaged long enough to get it all out. But I think alternating with a fresh batch of food will probably help even things out.

 

[lavishsqualor]

You guys are really awesome and I appreciate your comments here. It's definitely the psyllium husk or the probiotic and I'm leaning toward the psyllium.

I happened to catch Thirteen pooping earlier and she had the exact same problem. Her stool was much smaller but she still wasn't able to evacuate it, so once again I had to become the Poop Whisperer and coax it out.

Her poop was exactly the same as Atticus's. It's not hard at all but it's rubbery. Seriously, it feels and behaves like rubber. It's even difficult to pull apart because it wants to snap back, and I think that's why they are having trouble. When they "clench," the stool is too rubbery to break off.

I'm going to make a second batch of food tomorrow. Thank you for that idea, mrsgreenjeans, and to you too, furmonster mom for seconding it! That way, they'll only get one meal a day with the psyllium.

 

[maggiedemi]

Yeah, I've seen the same thing with Psyllium Husk. It's in the hairball paste I give my cats sometimes and it makes these really long poops.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Yeah, I've seen the same thing with Psyllium Husk. It's in the hairball paste I give my cats sometimes and it makes these really long poops.

Thank you so much for telling me that! Now I definitely know that it's the Psyllium Husk. I feel so bad because I'm the cause of all of Atticus's problems! I thought he was constipated so I added more psyllium to the last batch.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Psyllium is usually considered a predominantly soluble fiber. Soluble fibers (which dissolve in water) generally slow down transit time; insoluble fibers (do not dissolve in water) speed transit time. Soluble fibers also form a kind of viscous gel into the poo content (could that be why your kitties poops seem "rubbery" with this psyllium food-batch?).

(I am not a vet nor a nutritionist--) but seeing the snapshot-in-time of Atticus' blood work, it's a little lower in potassium and a bit higher in calcium; these things can contribute a bit to constipation. (edit: I take that back about calcium, as I am not sure how to interpret "Osm Calc"... your vet will know if that's high or not?)

You could try sticking with a good soluble fiber, yet maybe one that also provides more potassium to the diet, like plain pumpkin - just to see if a new batch of food with some pumpkin in it (and no psyllium) might shift the potassium and calcium numbers a bit? I've never made raw food, so you definitely have more experience in that than I do - maybe you know how to tweak things a little?



I'm not a fan of involving my cat in too many combos of soluble/insoluble, fermentable/non-fermentable fibers and fillers, but I think it is a good idea to look into the topic in general.

There is never any web site which I seem to agree with in all its info, but I do like (some) pages of this site, this page here for its description around the middle of the page of what I call, the "Poo Poo Dance" --
What Goes Wrong?

"Pressure of the stool against the bowel wall signals to the bowel that it is time to move its contents. In other words, the stool invites the bowel to dance. To extend a proper invitation, the stool needs to be properly formed and sized and of a proper firmness. The proper firmness is a function of the amount of water retained in the stool, not too much, not too little."

(I was surprised to find a web site which mirrored an idea my DH and I already have at home! That whenever our cat Milly gets ready to poop, I swear she does more movements and litter-shifting with her front and back paws as she gets ready to poop... there is much activity and dancing around in the box before she settles in for The Deed... it is like a dance for sure!)


Parts of the rest of that web site have interesting info, too, which one can agree with or disagree with according to one's own comfort level.