Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Post-meal blood test changes in healthy adult cats
By Wallace, Olivia et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2022·College of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Short-term postprandial changes in select serum biochemistry analytes in healthy adult cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of healthy adult cats had their blood tested before and after eating to see how their body chemistry changed. After they ate, levels of certain substances like blood urea nitrogen (BUN), phosphorus, bicarbonate, and chloride showed noticeable changes at various times over the next 12 hours. However, these changes were generally within normal ranges and not a sign of illness. This means that while their blood chemistry fluctuated after meals, it’s not something to worry about if your cat is healthy.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the magnitude, duration and significance of postprandial changes to select serum biochemistry analytes in healthy adult cats in the 12 h period after a meal. METHODS: Nine adult research cats fed commercial food were included. Blood samples were taken after a 12 h fast (hour 0), cats were offered and consumed a meal, and postprandial samples were obtained over a 12 h period starting 2 h after the baseline blood draw (hours 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12). Serum samples were run on a Roche Cobas C501 chemistry analyzer to obtain concentrations of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, phosphorus, total calcium, bicarbonate, cholesterol, magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. Serum concentrations of each analyte at hours 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 were compared with concentrations prior to feeding. RESULTS: Serum concentration for at least one postprandial time point was different from baseline fasted concentration for BUN (hour 2, = 0.006; hour 4,<0.0001; hour 6, = 0.002; hour 8, = 0.026), phosphorus (hour 2, = 0.019), bicarbonate (hours 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10; all<0.01), glucose (hour 12, = 0.014), magnesium (hour 10, = 0.029) and chloride (hour 2, = 0.026; hour 4, = 0.044; hour 12, = 0.019). No significant difference was seen at any postprandial sampling point compared with baseline for serum creatinine, total calcium, cholesterol, sodium or potassium concentrations. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Short-term postprandial serum concentrations of BUN, phosphorus, bicarbonate and chloride differed at multiple time points within a 12 h period compared with the fasted state at baseline, with most values remaining within the reference intervals. Veterinarians should be aware of these alterations, though they are unlikely to be mistaken for pathological disease states in healthy adult cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36219454/