Paepe Dominique, Verjans Gaëlle, Duchateau Luc, Piron Koen, Ghys Liesbeth, Daminet Sylvie
Department of Small Animal Medicine and Clinical Biology, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
J Feline Med Surg. 2013 Jan;15(1):8-19. doi: 10.1177/1098612X12464628.
Veterinary practitioners often perform geriatric health screening in cats. Unfortunately, scientific information regarding clinical and laboratory abnormalities and normal blood pressure values in elderly cats is scarce. This prospective study evaluated routine health screening tests in apparently healthy middle-aged and old cats.
One hundred cats of 6 years and older underwent blood pressure measurement, physical examination, blood and urine analysis, indirect fundoscopy and bilateral Schirmer tear tests.
Mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 133.6 ± 21.5 mmHg. Increased SBP (>160 mmHg) was observed in eight cats, submandibular lymphadenopathy in 32, gingivitis in 72, heart murmur in 11, thyroid goitre in 20, increased creatinine in 29, hyperglycaemia in 25, increased total thyroxine in three, feline immunodeficiency virus positivity in 14, crystalluria in 41, borderline proteinuria in 25 and overt proteinuria in two. Mean tear production was very similar for both eyes and none of the cats had ocular lesions secondary to hypertension.
Old cats (>10 years) had significantly higher SBP, heart rate, murmur frequency, thrombocyte count, urine protein:creatinine ratio and serum urea and bilirubin concentrations, and significantly lower body condition score, haematocrit, albumin and total calcium concentrations than middle-aged cats (6-10 years). The common occurrence of physical examination and laboratory abnormalities in apparently healthy old cats underlines the need for regular health checks and the development of age-dependent laboratory reference intervals.
兽医经常对猫进行老年健康筛查。遗憾的是，关于老年猫临床和实验室异常情况以及正常血压值的科学信息很少。这项前瞻性研究评估了看似健康的中年和老年猫的常规健康筛查测试。
100只6岁及以上的猫接受了血压测量、体格检查、血液和尿液分析、间接检眼镜检查以及双侧泪液分泌试验。
平均收缩压（SBP）为133.6±21.5毫米汞柱。8只猫出现收缩压升高（>160毫米汞柱），32只猫出现下颌下淋巴结病，72只猫出现牙龈炎，11只猫出现心脏杂音，20只猫出现甲状腺肿大，29只猫肌酐升高，25只猫血糖升高，3只猫总甲状腺素升高，14只猫猫免疫缺陷病毒呈阳性，41只猫出现晶体尿，25只猫出现临界蛋白尿, 2只猫出现明显蛋白尿。双眼的平均泪液分泌量非常相似，且没有猫因高血压出现眼部病变。
与中年猫（6 - 10岁）相比，老年猫（>10岁）的收缩压、心率、杂音频率、血小板计数、尿蛋白：肌酐比值以及血清尿素和胆红素浓度显著更高，而身体状况评分、血细胞比容、白蛋白和总钙浓度显著更低。看似健康的老年猫中体格检查和实验室异常情况普遍存在，这突出了定期健康检查的必要性以及制定年龄相关实验室参考区间的重要性。
