My senior cat's blood work is abnormal. What do these results mean?

Poor guy. I see elevate liver enzymes (ALT,AST) and kidney values on the paperwork you have attached here. Low hgb means that the red blood cells are not oxygenating well, but if the RBC count is also low (anemic) then that is a sign of chronic kidney failure. Cats can recover from kidney disease depending on the underlying cause. An abdominal ultrasound is needed to determine the cause of the kidney failure exactly, or a positive response to bloodwork is used as a means of determining a positive outcome. In most situations we treat the pet with fluid therapy to help idurese (flush out) the harmful toxins (BUN, CREA), get the pet started on a prescription kidney diet (ie. Hill's K/D, Royal Canin Renal) and also a supplement (Azodyl- which helps to remove toxins from the gut) can be given as well. The most concerning values for me on this bloodwork are the liver values (AST, ALT). It is not common for a cat to be in both kidney failure and to have abnormal liver values concurrently. THis raises suspicions for infectious diseases such as any number of tick diseases. I would recommend discussing with your vet about possibly doing a tick panel, if the history indicates tick exposure is probable. Also a FeLV/FIV test may also be indicated, depending on the complete CBC results, which you didn't post here. At the very least a liver protectant medication should be started, which is typically a medicine called Denamarin. Additional treatment may be needed depending on the underlying cause for the liver abnormalities. If you would like to discuss Toby's case further, then please feel free to request a consultatoin with either myself or another expert here. Toby's case is definitely a more complicated case where it is best to have a complete dialogue back and forth to get all the information you need to make the best decision moving forward with his care. I wish you all the best moving forward with Toby's care and I hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery. Take care.

Congratulations on the new boy! I see nothing here that concerns me very much. In fact, it’s pretty dang great for a dog Om’s age. Most of the changes are minimal enough to ignore in my opinion. The globulin (antibody) level is likely high due to the dental disease (although fungal infection and cancer can raise this level too). The BUN and creatinine (kidney values) are sitting at high-normal levels which could mean he’s very slightly dehydrated. I’d consider running this panel again in 3-6 months just to make sure those haven’t crept up into an abnormal range. (Sooner of course if any weight loss, increased drinking/urination, vomiting, etc.) Overall some pretty boring bloodwork! Hope this helps you rest easy and congrats again on Om!

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.

Much more information would be required in order to make any sense or use of blood results, a summary of what has been concerning you, her signs and symptoms and response to any previous treatment i would be required at a minimum. It is unusual to have a high RBC/HCT (more than normal red blood cells )and low MCH/MCHC (usually found when recovering from anaemia). This may indicate the red blood cell production process is gone wrong and an examination of the cells under a microscope by a specialist pathologist and possible bone marrow biopsy may be required. Occasionally accidental exposure to human medications used to promote blood production can produce similar results

I don’t think this shows renal disease. His creatine is normal with a slightly elevated BUN. To me this is more an indication of mild dehydration than kidney disease. He is slightly anemic also which is not uncommon in senior animals but may indicate a chronic medical problem. The eosinophils are slightly elevated which can be due to allergies or intestinal parasites. Basically for a thirteen year old cat there is nothing here that is overly concerning. Bloodwork is just a moment in time though so if you’re concerned I would repeat it again in a month or two so you can see if there is a trend indicating progression of a medical problem or kidney disease. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Beau.

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!

It's difficult to interpret lab work without some information on what symptoms the pet is having, why the test was run, etc. Without more information, all I can really say is that this CBC shows an elevated red blood cell count, which may indicate that the pet is dehydrated or can be a variation of normal in some pets. The white blood cell counts are mildly decreased, which can indicate some type of infection or, again, may not have any particular clinical significance. Feel free to post again with more information about what your pet is doing that concerns you, if you wish.