Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Trauma raises certain blood proteins in cats after injury
By Spada, Eva et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2026·Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of trauma on the concentration of selected feline acute phase proteins.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 61 cats, mostly stray domestic shorthairs aged 2 months to 17 years, were brought to a veterinary hospital after experiencing acute trauma. Tests showed that two proteins, serum amyloid A (SAA) and haptoglobin (Hp), were much higher in these injured cats compared to healthy ones, while albumin levels were lower. The levels of SAA were linked to how long the cats stayed in the hospital, indicating that monitoring these proteins could help vets understand the severity of the trauma. Fortunately, many of the cats improved, with SAA levels decreasing by the time they were discharged.
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Abstract
ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to evaluate selected acute phase proteins (APPs) in 61 cats (mainly stray, domestic shorthair cats, aged 2 months to 17 years, 39 males and 22 females) presented with acute trauma at a university teaching hospital.MethodsSerum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), ceruloplasmin and albumin were compared with APPs in a population of healthy cats with similar demographic data and in cats with trauma, considering demographic data, trauma type and localisation (craniofacial and/or vertebral and/or appendicular, thoracic, abdominal and localised, multiple or polytrauma), anti-inflammatory treatment and outcome (survival to discharge or death). APPs were correlated to age, rectal temperature, body weight, total leukocyte, neutrophil, band neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, total protein, albumin:globulin ratio, base excess and hospitalisation duration.ResultsIn cats with acute trauma, the median concentrations of SAA and Hp were significantly higher than in healthy control cats (90.5 vs 0.6 mg/ml and 130.7 vs 58.8 mg/dl, respectively;<0.0001) and showed a median 150-fold increase and 2.2-fold increase, respectively, relative to healthy cats. Albumin was significantly lower in cats with trauma compared with healthy cats (3.4 vs 3.8 g/dl, respectively;<0.0001) and in cats with vertebral trauma compared with cats with other trauma localisations. SAA showed a significantly positive correlation with length of hospitalisation ( = 0.488; = 0.0003) in 50 surviving cats, while albumin showed a significantly negative correlation ( = -0.426; = 0.0020), in addition to a negative correlation with band neutrophils ( = -0.329; = 0.0097). In 15 cats with trauma in which APPs were also evaluated at discharge, SAA was significantly lower than at admission.Conclusions and relevanceAcute trauma in cats is associated with significant increases in SAA and Hp and decreases in albumin. Testing SAA and albumin in cats with acute trauma may provide a useful prognostic indicator of length of hospitalisation, but no evaluated APPs are of prognostic value for survival.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41388899/