Topic: pre-anaesthetic blood testing (Read 13733 times)

Michelle (furbabystar) · « **Reply #22 on:** March 19, 2007, 22:28:35 PM »

Pre bloods here is £45 !!

I personally have never had them done.

Am i right in thinking Lynn it only checks for kidney function ?

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #21 on:** March 19, 2007, 21:35:19 PM »

Lynn, you would be lucky to get pre-anaesthetic bloods done for £20 at most vets!! Might have been that cheap when you were a VN, or maybe cos you are in Scotland, but you can expect to add £40 to your bill round here for that!! When PEbbles had her dental, the receptionist forgot to get me to tick the box for it, I did think it was odd, but they had recently changed the forms, and I hadn't seen it either, the vet thought it odd I didn't ask for it actually, and quizzed me about it - they didn't forget for the other op!! IT turned out OK actually, cos she was back the month after for them anyway, but I would rather be neurotic and have these things done and get any possible issues picked up on sooner rather than later.

Beccles · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2007, 20:21:31 PM »

Letty and Daffy were spayed last Tuesday.

I dunno if it was the fact that I had the 2 of them or that I can't move very fast but we lasted about 20 minutes before I had to send a tame cousin on a rescue mission to pick up the big plastic collars. Soooo... Becca's top tip is bring one home with you, if you don't need it then great.

chimpzoo · « **Reply #19 on:** March 19, 2007, 19:38:32 PM »

Quote from: forever_missing_my_boys on March 19, 2007, 19:23:20 PM

When is Tilda booked in for her spay ?
my Makosi is booked for thursday

a week on friday, i have sat and sun off work to stop her pulling out stitches.

forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) · « **Reply #18 on:** March 19, 2007, 19:23:20 PM »

When is Tilda booked in for her spay ?
my Makosi is booked for thursday

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #17 on:** March 19, 2007, 19:20:54 PM »

i am sure she will be but atleast you have made an educated decision and thats how it should be

hypothetically speaking if you werent informed or a profesional member said you had a young healthy cat so there would be no problems and there was then the first thing you'd ask is why didnt you tell me all the risks, which is only normal a person would say that. I never think you can have too much knowledge if you have the facts right

I will say that i cannot remember any long term problems resulting in a cat being ga'd that had underlying undiagnosed problems, now i know there would have been cats operated on with undiagnosed underlying problems but i cant remember them being back in because of it. thats not to say the clients didnt go else where, the cat wandered off or and problems a couple of years later etc. the worst one out of the few that we had blood tested had really high renal parameters, he went on prescription diet etc and they came down alot but not totally and a few months later he was castrated using an anaesthetic which was much much kinder on the kidneys, not the type that is normally used for cat castrate and he was placed on iv fluids etc to support him..the others were marginally high and i cannot remember the exact protocol we followed.

chimpzoo · « **Reply #16 on:** March 19, 2007, 19:02:58 PM »

Quote from: lynn on March 19, 2007, 18:37:49 PM

all i was doing was giving abit more facts than what was previously given on this topic.

...and it's appreciated, i think it's important that you pointed out that it's impossible to know a cat's health by looking at it and that things occasionally go wrong, well, it was usefull info for me!

I think this time i'll save myself £40 and hope that Tilda is in the majority of heathy young cats.

forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) · « **Reply #15 on:** March 19, 2007, 18:44:16 PM »

No it aint the same vet
the vet that was examining makosi was a female

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #14 on:** March 19, 2007, 18:37:49 PM »

but is that the same vet who after seeing him you went to get a 2nd opinion for a preg diagnosis, that does suggest you dont entirely trust his judgement anyway. I can see no point in offering you a blood test followed by that remark without stating the facts both for and against. You are right however we do need to draw a line and being educated adults we can gather facts and make our own opinions. all i was doing was giving abit more facts than what was previously given on this topic.

forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) · « **Reply #13 on:** March 19, 2007, 18:22:06 PM »

on a older cat is a bit more understandable

but what i was trying to say was :
i think u have to draw a line at being too neurotic about things in life
if not we would all end up mad !!!!!
i think its good to think possitive thoughts sometimes
and with a young fit lively kitten i wouldnt have blood tests done
and as i say my vet s words were " would u like pre anaestic blood testing ? although it really isnt necessary with a young kitten as long as they r healthy and lively in there selves "

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #12 on:** March 19, 2007, 18:12:49 PM »

Quote from: forever_missing_my_boys on March 19, 2007, 16:42:34 PM

well try not too cringe !
coz its exactly wat the vet said when i took max to be neutered and i was offered the blood tests.
Just because u r neurotic doesnt mean everyone has to be !

I don't think its neurotic to want pre-anesthetic blood tests done - ok I probably wouldnt have tests done on a young cat going in for routine neutering, although, as Lynn said, even then there can be the exception that shows abnormal results, but I would definitely have pre-op tests done on an older cat before a dental or other procedure involving anesthetic.

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #11 on:** March 19, 2007, 17:44:44 PM »

i wasnt having a go at you, sorry if it sounded like that. What you said is what most owners say.
Pdsa aside as thats obvously comes down to funding and i have no experience with pdsa doing routine neuterings , i do believe every vet and nurse should make everyone aware of the facts..thats not to exagarate or bully people into something they dont want but to give the facts ie yes probably 98 out of 100 young cats will be perfectly ok but for the owners to be aware that there is a small chance that internally all isnt always necessarily as hunky dory as it might seem on the outside and if they are happy knowing that info that there is that small chance their cat (or dog) may be in the small percentage that the kidneys or liver isnt functioning 100% then thats fine so long as they are aware of risks involved. I dont consider myself neurotic and i can honestly say there are some here that are far more worried about things than i am however knowledge is always power in my opinion and i'd never say to anyone..your animal looks the picture of health so there fore there CANT be a problem.

when it comes down to it where charities etc are involved then a certain degree of weighing up the risks must be considered ie the small chance of not doing a blood test to the much higher chance of not doing the neuterings and the implications that has. Personally if it was me i would go for the extra 20 odd quid for the blood test and also if it was a separate procedure that the insurance was going to cover ie x ray or ga to lance cat bite abcess..something simple then most people would have the blood test as it would then in that case be covered by the insurance, for me it would make no difference if it was an ins case or not i would pre ga my pets before a ga as i have first hand been suprised in the past. As a qualified veterinary nurse that is my opinion as to whether it is necessary or not !

forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) · « **Reply #10 on:** March 19, 2007, 16:42:34 PM »

well try not too cringe !
coz its exactly wat the vet said when i took max to be neutered and i was offered the blood tests.
Just because u r neurotic doesnt mean everyone has to be !

there are millions of cats everyday who r spayed and neutered without having blood tests first !

Do u think when a cat owner who attends the pdsa goes there for a neuter the pdsa offer blood tests first??????
nope afiraid not as they just dont have the funds to do things that r really not necessary
and its so not necessary in a 6mth old cat im sorry .
Now if the person who started this thread can afford to pay out for blood tests then all well and good
but if not then imo its fine
and im sure the cat will be 100 per cent fine 2 .

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #9 on:** March 19, 2007, 16:28:52 PM »

i cringe when i hear what forever said..just because an animal APPEARS healthy doesnt mean to say their organs are performing 100% you cant tell outwardly whats going on internally !!

I would say to anyone that the chances of their being any problems or test results outwtith the normal reference ranges in young cats for routine procedures ie neutering is highly unlikely.

HOWEVER there can and is the odd one that will always be an exception and ga will either be modified or delayed etc and any further treatement and or tests can begin.

In my own experience these tests in neuterings werent done too often but i will say i remember there being 3 or 4 that showed abnormal results, one was a 7 mnth cat castrate the had very elevated results but appeared 100% healthy and normal on the outside !!

What i'd say is if you can afford it then go for it, if not then your cat will PROBABLY be ok and dont beat yourself up over it but be aware altho the chances of abnormalities are low it doesnt mean they dont exsist.

chimpzoo · « **Reply #8 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:47:06 PM »

hmmm this is interesting!

i might not bother with it now, she's young and seems healthy and lively.

Ela · « **Reply #7 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:44:04 PM »

Quote

. My oldies have them done,

We too have the older cats bloods taken but the young ones only if the vets feels there is a problem.

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #6 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:42:39 PM »

I agree that it's probably not necessary for a 6 month old kitten, but with an older cat I think it's a good idea. Jaffa had pre-op bloods done before a dental too and that's when they found out his urea and creatinine levels were high (not abnormally high but high end of normal). I think they're worth having done when an adult cat has an op but I wouldn't bother with a kitten as there's unlikely to be a problem with the organs at that age.

Mark · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:35:30 PM »

Not sure about a young cat but clapton is 7 and had pre-anaesthetic bood tests before a dental and that's when it came to light he had CRF - I don't know how long it would have gone undiscovered without.

Beccles · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:34:04 PM »

If Tilda is a normal healthy youngster then frankly it's pretty unlikely that there's anything for the blood test to pick up... but gawd I'm glad they didn't offer me it cos I'd have fallen for it hook line and sinker and handed over another £lots - the girls were spayed last Tuesday and are doing fine.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #3 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:30:02 PM »

It isn't vital for youngsters, but is coming more and more common. My oldies have them done, unless it hasn't been that long since their annual blood tests. Blood tests will pick up medical probs that you might not know about by looking at them, but if she is being spayed at 6mo, I wouldnt bother.

forever_missing_my_boys(Lisa) · « **Reply #2 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:19:40 PM »

No its not vital
i was offered it with all my cats
as long as the cat is healthy and has no medical problems then theres no need for the blood test imo .

chimpzoo · « **Reply #1 on:** March 19, 2007, 12:17:31 PM »

I just got a letter from the vet detailing an appointment for Tilda to be spayed in a weeks time.

there's a few boxes for me to tick saying if i want various treatments done, microchipped, claws cut ect... It also asks if i would like pre-anaesthetic blood testing - i gather this helps to reduce complications that may arise due to the anaesthetic so i'll get it done, but does anyone know if this is vital ?

Author Topic: pre-anaesthetic blood testing (Read 13733 times)