Test For Blood Clotting

[maggiedemi]

My question: When you bring feral/stray cats in to get spayed or neutered, what is the test called to make sure that their blood clots okay for surgery? Is it the Snap test? I have heard of feral cats passing away because they are exposed to mouse poison outside that makes their blood not clot and they bleed to death during the surgery.

 

[AbbysMom]

Giving this question a bump up.

 

[Willowy]

I didn't know there was such a test. I'll be interested to see the answer!

The SNAP test is for FIV and FeLV, and sometimes heartworms and/or tick-borne diseases.

 

[AbbysMom]

Giving this one another bump up.

 

[Daisy6]

I did not know the same test is used for two viruses. What I read previously is the most common FLV test is called the ELISA.

 

[catsknowme]

I sure hope that this very, VERY important question gets answered!! At some point in the future, I hope to work with a colony that is alleged to get poisoned on occasion. Cats will all disappear then slowly a few sickly, emaciated cats will reappear; there will eventually be kittens but most of them dont make it to the half year mark. The promising news for me is I am meeting millenials who are compassionate and very proactive ~ a real blessing in a rural, old-school, dog-centric county.
I am anxiously awaiting the answer to this!

 

[white shadow]

.
AbbysMom .....anything you can do to get this one 'finished off' ?
.

 

[Anne]

Hey guys, a little bit of patience would be nice. It can happen with expert forums that experts need to wrap things up - that's why I didn't close the forum to replies.

There was really no need to jump in with a reply so quickly. This is an expert forum and not a regular discussion forum for a reason. I'll delete the additional replies for now - feel free to start an additional thread in the ferals or health forums. Let's keep this one what it is - an expert forum. Thank you for your cooperation . If anyone has any issues with this - please PM me and let's keep the thread on topic.

I'm sure Dr. Phil Bushby will return to reply - it's just that once the forum dates are over he's likely to be less available and so it might take a little bit longer.

 

[Esther Mechler]

Yes, Dr. Bushby left yesterday to speak at a veterinary conference, but I will call this to his attention at the end of this weekend. While I cannot give an expert medical reply, I am beyond worried that a colony is being fed in a place where someone is poisoning cats. You wrote you are working "with a colony that is alleged to get poisoned on occasion. Cats will all disappear then slowly a few sickly, emaciated cats will reappear; there will be kittens but most of them dont make it to the half year mark." Can you use this time to find out what is going on? Investigate who is targeting these animals before it happens again? It does not sound like they are in a safe place for a colony even if they are tested as things stand now.

 

[Dr. Phil Bushby]

My question: When you bring feral/stray cats in to get spayed or neutered, what is the test called to make sure that their blood clots okay for surgery? Is it the Snap test? I have heard of feral cats passing away because they are exposed to mouse poison outside that makes their blood not clot and they bleed to death during the surgery.

 

[Dr. Phil Bushby]

I sure hope that this very, VERY important question gets answered!! At some point in the future, I hope to work with a colony that is alleged to get poisoned on occasion. Cats will all disappear then slowly a few sickly, emaciated cats will reappear; there will eventually be kittens but most of them dont make it to the half year mark. The promising news for me is I am meeting millenials who are compassionate and very proactive ~ a real blessing in a rural, old-school, dog-centric county.
I am anxiously awaiting the answer to this!

My question: When you bring feral/stray cats in to get spayed or neutered, what is the test called to make sure that their blood clots okay for surgery? Is it the Snap test? I have heard of feral cats passing away because they are exposed to mouse poison outside that makes their blood not clot and they bleed to death during the surgery.

To the best of my knowledge there is NO SNAP test for identifying clotting disorders. There are several clotting factors which means there are several things that can go wrong with clotting. No single test can pinpoint what the problem is. Test like prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, activated partial thromboplastin time are all tests that can be used to diagnosis clotting disorders.

But if the question is simply how do I determine if the cat has a clotting disorder (as opposed to determining what is causing the clotting disorder) then a very small incision in the mucus membranes of the mouth after the cat is anesthetized but before surgery will give you an insight into does this cat's blood clot.

Having said all that - I agree with the comments from Esther Mechler that if you suspect someone is poisoning community cats you need to find out the legal ramifications of that and attempt to determine who is doing this.

Wish there was a simple answer to this question - but both aspects, the medical and legal, can be very complex.