High cholesterol

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Cheryl - 30 Dec 2006 01:12 GMT

Vet just called with Shamrock's latest blood test results. I'm having
him checked out 2x per year now due to the nasty drugs he's on. I
didn't get the exact value, but the rest of his values were all
normal. Vet said his last one from a year ago his cholesterol level
was normal, and that it could be high this time based on the time he
last ate. How concerned should I be? I guess it would help to answer
that by having the exact value, but I forgot to ask (busy day;
tired). He eats mostly FF canned food with a little bit of dry Calif
Natural and/or SD Sensitive Stomach to crunch when he feels like it.
Not much, just a nosh. I've actually added to his diet Friskies
canned turkey or chicken prime filet variety. I wonder if that's it?
Will have it retested in 6 months, so maybe this isn't anything to
worry about.

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Cheryl
/worried mama

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Rene S. - 30 Dec 2006 03:36 GMT

> Vet just called with Shamrock's latest blood test results. I'm having
> him checked out 2x per year now due to the nasty drugs he's on. I
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Cheryl
> /worried mama

Hi,
I just had my cat's bloodwork done, and his cholesterol registered on
the high end of normal. I was curious and asked my vet about this
(after all, cats are carnivores which equals cholesterol). She said
that cats don't have cholesterol that clogs the arteries like people
do, and that cholesterol wasn't much of a factor in cats or dogs.

Rene

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Cheryl - 01 Jan 2007 17:21 GMT

> Hi,
> I just had my cat's bloodwork done, and his cholesterol
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> clogs the arteries like people do, and that cholesterol wasn't
> much of a factor in cats or dogs.

Thanks Rene. I've been googling, and found some interesting things.
I'm going to have the vet keep an eye on this because of this:

"Cholesterol is a form of fat. Cholesterol can be increased in the
bloodstream for many reasons in dogs. It is much less common for
cats to have increased cholesterol. Some of the diseases that cause
elevated cholesterol are hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease,
diabetes and kidney diseases that cause protein to be lost in the
urine. High cholesterol does not predispose dogs and cats to heart
and blood vessel disease as it does in people. "
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/lab.asp

I appreciate your response with your experience.

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Cheryl

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Buddy's Mom - 01 Jan 2007 18:24 GMT

Boy that is interesting Cheryl. My last cat had high cholesterol from
the time he was a couple of months old. When he was 18 he was
diagnosed with hyperthyroidism - although I believe he had it for some
time and the vet just didn't check for it. He finally did the blood
work after I researched the symptoms that my cat had via googling. He
did live to be 20 years and 3 months, but I have never heard before
that high cholesteral could contribute to this or was associated with
it. Very interesting and something for all of us to watch and ask
about in the future with the kitties we now have.

> > Hi,
> > I just had my cat's bloodwork done, and his cholesterol
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> I appreciate your response with your experience.

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blkcatgal - 30 Dec 2006 04:50 GMT

My cat that lived to be almost 17 consistently had high cholesterol level at
least for the last 3-4 years. My vet told me that a high cholesterol in
cats did not mean the same thing as in humans. She told me that since
everything else tested normal, a high cholesterol level probably didn't mean
anything. However, she did not have an explanation as to why the
cholesterol level was high. It never seemed to be a problem.

Sue

> Vet just called with Shamrock's latest blood test results. I'm having
> him checked out 2x per year now due to the nasty drugs he's on. I
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> Will have it retested in 6 months, so maybe this isn't anything to
> worry about.

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Cheryl - 01 Jan 2007 17:23 GMT

> My cat that lived to be almost 17 consistently had high
> cholesterol level at least for the last 3-4 years. My vet told
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> However, she did not have an explanation as to why the
> cholesterol level was high. It never seemed to be a problem.

Thanks Sue. That's good to know, too, and I'm glad she had a good
long life with it. I wonder if they test "good" vs "bad" cholesterol
in cats? Or maybe there is no "bad"? I'll have to ask the vet next
time I'm up there.

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Cheryl

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