Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High blood lactate levels in sick cats and what they mean
By Redavid, Lesleigh A et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)·2016·Emergency and Critical Care Service, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Hyperlactatemia and serial lactate measurements in sick cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 123 sick cats were admitted to a veterinary hospital for emergency care, and about 23% of them had high lactate levels in their blood, which can indicate serious health issues. The study measured these levels at the time of admission and again at 6 and 24 hours later, but found that the lactate levels did not predict whether the cats would survive or how long they would stay in the hospital. Overall, 81% of the cats in the study were discharged successfully. More research is needed to understand how lactate levels might relate to specific illnesses in cats.
People also search for: why is my cat in the hospital · high lactate levels in cats · cat emergency care survival rate
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To document the incidence of hyperlactatemia in sick cats hospitalized for emergency care and to evaluate the prognostic utility of serial lactate measurements in cats with hyperlactatemia. DESIGN: Prospective observational study over a 10-month period (July 2010-May 2011). SETTING: Private veterinary referral center with 24-hour hospital care. ANIMALS: One hundred and twenty-three privately owned cats admitted to a private referral center. INTERVENTIONS: Blood was collected by direct venipuncture from the jugular or medial saphenous vein at the time of hospital admission and at 6 and 24 hours following admission. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The median plasma lactate concentration for all cats at admission (T0) was 1.89 mmol/L (17.0 mg/dL) (range: 0.3-12.48). Twenty-three percent (28/123) of cats admitted were hyperlactatemic (ie, >2.87 mmol/L; >25.86 mg/dL) upon admission. Lactate concentration at presentation and serial lactate measurements were not found to be related with survival to discharge or correlated with duration of hospitalization. The overall survival rate of all cats in this study was 81%. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the incidence of hyperlactatemia in sick cats being admitted for hospitalization in a private referral center was 23%, and that lactate concentration on admission and serial lactate measurements over time were not prognostic in this group of hospitalized cats. Future studies are needed to evaluate the prognostic utility of lactate and serial lactate measurements in specific disease states and in a larger population of critically ill cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27305468/