Cat

Ask a Cat Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Cat question?

11 Vets and Cat Experts are Online Now

characters left:

Not a Cat Question?

Question

I took my 5 month old himmy in to be spayed this morning. The vet called and her bloodwork came back with very low white count and platelet count. He's sending the blood off to another lab to retest. Pasha hasn't been sick at all !! What could this be? She was tested for leukemia, aids, before I got her and was negative. I'm very concerned. She's never been sick a day of her little 5 month old life.

Submitted: 617 days and 16 hours ago.

Category: Cat

Value: $15

Status: CLOSED

Optional Information:
Age: <1; Female; Breed: Himalayan ( persian)

Accepted Answer

Sorry to hear about your kitty. I think your vet is on the right track. Most of the time I see abnormalities like this in healthy kittens it is a matter of laboratory problems. Complete blood counts can be thrown off by platelet clumps or blood clots in the tube which falsely reduce cell counts. Or it could be simple machine error. At any rate, the first disease I'd think of are FeLV and FIV which she has already tested negative for. As she is healthy and I'm assuming, well vaccinated, feline panleukopenia is very unlikely as well. Primary malfunction of the bone marrow which would cause this is extremely rare. It also may be that this is simply normal for your kitty and not harmful at all, just unusual. Please let me know if you need more info.

Accepts:
Expert:	osupetdoc
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Answered:	3/13/2008

Cat Veterinarian

Practicing Cat Veterinarian; No online consultation can replace a veterinary examination.

617 days and 15 hours ago.

Reply

Hi !
Thanks soo much for getting back to me. You've made me feel a little better here. I've been just so puzzled how a cat who has been totally healthy from day 1, could have a bad disease. I even called her breeder who reassured me that she has never had any FELV or FIV and ofcourse, Pasha was tested for that as a baby. Yes, she has had her vaccinations as she should. This little kitten ( 5 1/2 months old) as been one of the healthiest kittens I have ever had. She's never even had diarhhea or even vomited in the 3 months that I've had her. I was just shocked to get this call about her bloodwork. Glad to hear that you agree my Dr. is doing the right thing to send the blood out to another lab, outside of his office lab to have the bloodwork redone. He did mention something to me about "clumping" being a possibility or a machine error. I guess the clumping issue wouldn't be a problem in another lab test? I am so thankful for your reply. Cathy

Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.

Cat

Have your own Cat question?

Related Cat Topics:

Question

Optional Information

Optional Information: Age: <1; Female; Breed: Himalayan ( persian)

Accepted Answer

Reply

Related Cat Questions

Optional Information:
Age: <1; Female; Breed: Himalayan ( persian)