My cat's bloodwork shows elevated BNP. Should I worry about her heart?

Pro-BNP doesn't determine the level of heart disease. It is commonly used to help determine if the symptoms we are seeing are related to the heart vs the lungs. It shouldn't be affected by the blood pressure, though some heart diseases can be worsened by elevated blood pressure. Here are a couple articles you may find helpful: http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/bnp-testing-cats-with-suspected-cardiomyopathy http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/journal-scan-potential-prognostic-value-nt-probnp-assays-cats-with-congestive-heart-failure

The only blood test that I am aware of that could show evidence of heart disease would be a proBNP test. This protein increases when there is increased stress on the heart but there can be some false positives and a positive does not always mean heart failure or heart disease. When a veterinarian is suspicious of heart failure they may also recommend running a blood count and chemistry panel to help rule out infections and to check electrolytes and kidney values before starting treatment for heart failure.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! No, the basophils can be slightly high and not be a real concern. In his case, they are just very mildly elevated and not really something concerning. That could be due to some degree or inflammation that may resolve on its own. Best of luck!

Thank you for sending over the copies of Gonzie's blood work! Looking at the provided results, I see that his creatinine is a tiny bit elevated. This value increases with kidney damage or dehydration. I'd certainly recommend talking to his vet about rechecking his kidney function in a month or two, as well as running a urinalysis to see how well his kidneys are working to concentration his urine. The monocyte increase is extremely mild. I don't worry when this type of white blood cell increases a tiny bit while other white blood cell lines (especially the neutrophils and lymphocytes) are normal. Stress alone can trigger this minor elevation. The RDW helps to give the proportions of the red blood cells' size and volume. Again, this minor elevation does not seem to be significant. A 50% hematocrit is slightly elevated, which means that Gonzie has some extra red blood cells. I would much rather see too many red blood cells than too few! His blood volume could also be more concentrated if he's a bit dehydrated. Platelets can be challenging to read on CBCs since they can clump together, so the machine may read a clump of several platelets as just one single cell. In these cases, it's always useful to manually examine a blood smear under the microscope to determine if adequate numbers of platelets are present. Nothing on the provided lab work makes me terribly concerned at this moment, but I do think it's worth tracking his kidney values and confirming an accurate platelet count. I hope that everything goes well for Gonzie!

Even though Annie's SDMA is at the upper end of normal, I don't see evidence of early kidney disease due to her normal BUN and creatinine values. A urinalysis will help to determine how well her kidneys are functioning to concentrate urine. It looks as though she has a few extra red blood cells (mildly increased hematocrit) and is making some extra red blood cells (slightly increased reticulocyte count), as well as a mild drop in her neutrophils (a type of white blood cell). All of these fluctuations could be associated with a relatively recent mild infection or illness that she's since recovered from. If she's clinically doing well, I wouldn't otherwise think too much of these values. I see that she also has a bit of hyperkalemia (high potassium), which is increasing her Na/K (sodium to potassium ratio). While hyperkalemia can occur with kidney disease, I would also expect to see at least moderate increases in BUN and creatinine at the same time. Other issues, like stomach upset, parasites, or certain medications can also increase the potassium values. I would still check a urinalysis to help get a complete picture. If your vet also recommends doing so, repeating this bloodwork in another month or two is a reasonable idea to track any changes. I hope that everything goes well!

I am so sorry for you loss! This can be genetic. I would have an echo done on her heart to look at her heart walls and chamber sizes. I would also have your vet do a proBNP (idexx) on her to get a baseline number. ProBNP is an heart muscle enzyme that increases with heart muscle damage or stretching. This and the echo together would give you a good idea on what the heart is looking like. I would recommend to do this once a year to keep a close eye on it since we know her heart could be genetically prone to issues. I hope this helps!

GGT can be a liver indicator, but does not mean anything when it is the only liver enzyme elevated. It means that the sample was likely hemolyzed, giving a false reading. Mildly elevated HCT and HGB mean that your pet may have had mild dehydration when the sample was taken. The elevated RETIC means that your pet was regenerating his red blood cells which can be due to an underlying immune mediated disorder, blood loss, or decreased blood cell production. However there are no other markers seen (RBCs are normal) to corroborate any of these situations, so a blood smear evaluation can be done to try and find more clues about what the high RETIC count means, or if it is also a false reading. The mildly low EOS is not a significant finding when this is low, only when this value is high, which can indicate a parasitic problem. I hope this helps! Best wishes and take care.