Hyperlactatemia and serial lactate measurements in sick cats.

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.

Plasma lactate measurements in healthy cats.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective was to determine if venous plasma lactate is affected by struggling during venipuncture in clinically normal, healthy cats. Additional objectives were to evaluate the effects of venipuncture site, age, sex, and time (0-24 h) on plasma lactate concentrations in healthy cats. DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. SETTING: Private veterinary referral center. ANIMALS: Twenty-one healthy, privately owned, sexually altered, adult cats. INTERVENTIONS: Blood was collected via jugular or medial saphenous venipuncture at the time of study entry and at 6 and 24 hours later. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In healthy cats, there were no significant differences in lactate concentrations statified by degree of struggling at time 0 (P = 0.33), time 6 (P = 0.23), or at time 24 (P = 0.41), venipuncture site (P = 0.58), age (P = 0.62), sex (P = 0.06), or time (P = 0.13). Most cats had mild to moderate struggling scores. Venous plasma lactate concentrations for this group of healthy adult cats had a mean of 1.63 mmol/L; 95% CI: 1.34-1.92, SD: 0.62, and a minimum-maximum range of 0.37-2.81 mmol/L. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of mild to moderate struggling during venipuncture, venipuncture site, age, sex, and time did not affect plasma lactate concentrations in this group of healthy cats. Our results suggest that plasma lactate can be reliably measured in cats. Further studies are warranted in sick cats to determine if plasma lactate measurements can be utilized as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker.

The prevalence and significance of hyperglycemia in hospitalized cats.

OBJECTIVE: To report the prevalence of hyperglycemia in cats admitted to a veterinary hospital and to determine if hyperglycemic cats had increased morbidity and mortality when compared with normoglycemic cats. DESIGN - Retrospective clinical study. SETTING: Community-based referral hospital. ANIMALS: Nondiabetic cats admitted to the hospital. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The medical records of nondiabetic cats admitted to the hospital over a 1-year period were reviewed. There were 182 cats that met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Information obtained included signalment, length of hospitalization, initial and highest blood glucose measurement, diagnosis, treatment, and final disposition. Sixty-three percent of cats (116/182) were hyperglycemic at the time of presentation. Total incidence of hyperglycemia at any point during hospitalization was 64% (118/182). No association was found between hyperglycemia either initially or at any point during the hospitalization and mortality. However, a significant association was documented between the presence of hyperglycemia and increased length of hospitalization (LOH) (P=0.04). The duration of LOH was also significantly associated with the degree of hyperglycemia (P=0.01). A number of different disease processes were represented in the study population. However, the number of cats in each disease category was small and no association could be found between any of them and blood glucose affecting mortality and morbidity. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hyperglycemia in feline patients admitted to a primary referral hospital was 64%. Cats with hyperglycemia had a longer LOH when compared with normoglycemic cats; however, presence of hyperglycemia did not impact mortality in this population of cats.