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Interpreting Labwork Values
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A serum chemistry and complete blood count performed on a cat's blood sample is very similar to that which is done for people. Below is a very abbreviated summary that shows some of the common reasons why specific values can be abnormally low or high. Interpretation of clinical pathology results is very complex and the group of values must be analyzed together and taking into consideration the magnitude of the deviation from the normal range, to arrive at a diagnosis or serve as the basis for additional tests. Often, values can lie outside the normal reference range and still be OK or appear normal and actually represent a concern.
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Specific Lab Values |
If Too High, Could Be... |
If Too Low, Could Be... |
| Glucose | Diabetes, stress | Severe infection, malnutrition |
| Urea Nitrogen (BUN) | Dehydration, kidney disease, ulcer | Malnutrition |
| Creatinine | Dehydration, kidney disease | Poor muscle mass |
| Total protein | Dehydration | Blood loss, diarrhea |
| Albumin | Dehydration | Blood loss, liver disease |
| Total bilirubin | Liver disease, red blood cell destruction | (not relevant) |
| Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) | Liver disease, normal for kitten | (not relevant) |
| ALT (Alanine aminotransferase) | Liver disease, other systemic disease | (not relevant) |
| AST (Aspartate aminotransferase) |
Liver disease | (not relevant) |
| Cholesterol | Recent meal, actual problem uncommon | Malnutrition |
| Calcium | Cancer, endocrine, fungal, kidney | Endocrine, kidney, low albumin |
| Phosphorus | Kidney, endocrine disease | Malnutrition, endocrine |
| Sodium | Dehydration | Vomiting/diarrhea, kidney disease |
| Potassium | Endocrine, urinary blockage | Vomiting/diarrhea, kidney disease |
| Chloride | Dehydration | Vomiting/diarrhea, kidney disease |
| Albumin/Globulin Ratio |
Immunodeficiency | Chronic inflammatory disease |
| BUN/Creatinine Ratio | Ulcer, muscle wasting |
Malnutrition |
| Globulin | Chronic inflammatory disease | Immunodeficiency |
| Lipase | Intestinal or kidney disease | (not relevant) |
| Amylase | Intestinal or kidney disease |
(not relevant) |
| Triglycerides | Intestinal disease | Malnutrition |
| CPK (Creatine protein kinase) | Muscle trauma | Malnutrition |
| GGTP (Gamma glutamyl transferase) | Liver disease | (not relevant) |
| Magnesium | Kidney disease, dehydration | Malnutrition, intestinal disease |
| Hemoglobin | Dehydration, normal(athletic) | Anemia |
| Hematocrit | Dehydration, normal (athletic) | Anemia |
| WBC (White blood cells) | Inflammation, infection, cancer | Normal,immunodeficiency |
| RBC (Red blood cells) | Dehydration, normal (athletic) | Anemia |
| MCV (Mean corpuscular volume) | Response to low red cell count | Iron deficiency |
| MCH (Mean corpuscular hemoglobin) | (hemolysis or lab error) |
Anemia |
| MCHC (Mean corp. hemo. conc.) | (hemolysis or lab error) | Anemia |
| Platelet Count | Intestinal, immune disease, cancer | Autoimmune disease |
| Platelet Estimate | (this is manually checked because lab equipment can't give an accurate count for cats) |
| Neutrophils | Inflammation, stress, infection | Normal, immunodeficiency |
| Bands | Severe infection | (not relevant) |
| Lymphocytes |
Viral infection, cancer | Normal, immunodeficiency |
| Monocytes | Chronic infection/inflammation | Normal, immunodeficiency |
| Eosinophils | Parasitic disease, allergy |
Normal, immunodeficiency |
| Basophils |
Heartworm disease | Normal |
| T4 (thyroid hormone) |
Hyperthyroidism |
Systemic chronic illness |
