Feline How-To Manual: Keeping Watch - Your Cat's Vital Signs ~ Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.

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Any health care links located here are NOT to replace a veterinarian visit; please take your cat to a vet immediately at any sign of odd behavior or any symptoms of illness or injury. Call your vet and describe your cat's symptoms with any of your concerns about the cat's well-being. Your veterinarian may discover changes in your cat's health that you have overlooked. It is always better to err on the side of caution.

Keeping Watch: Your Cat's Vital Signs

As pet guardians, we usually expect to recognize disease in animals, especially the young and vigorous, immediately by the outward signs: lethargy or inactivity, lack of appetite, vomiting or diarrhea. But illnesses don't always present themselves in such obvious ways. Slowly progressive infections and organ dysfunctions can be difficult to detect because of the body's physiological ability to adapt.

A cat's stoic disposition and high tolerance to pain can mask an illness. As a responsible care-giver, your powers of observation are very important to the diagnosis and recovery of your cat. Your ability to account accurately for your cat's changes in appetite, bowel habits, and activity will assist your veterinarian in making a diagnosis, deciding on a course of therapy, and assessing whether your cat is responding to treatment.

Body Temperature

Body temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate are collectively termed "vital functions," and are assessments of an animal's state of health. A single measurement of any one of these has limited value, but several measurements over hours or days will tell your vet a lot. Alternating high and low values, called cycles, may correspond among other things to the onset of pain, irregular heart rhythms, or release of bacteria or other substances into the blood. Cycles may determine when blood samples for certain laboratory tests should be drawn or when medications should be administered. If your veterinarian asks you to monitor any of these vital signs, follow the recommended schedule to the best of your ability, and write down your findings.

Feeling the ears or fur for warmth is not an accurate method of determining your cat's body temperature. True, a very high fever will make a cat's ears and fur feel warm, but so will a patch of sunlight or the warmth of a waterbed. To accurately measure body temperature, use a rectal themometer, either a regular glass-mercury type or a digital model from a drug store.

With a standard rectal thermometer, shake down the mercury to a level below 96ºF (35.6ºC). Lubricate the bulb with a small amount of petrolatum or K-Y jelly. Lift your cat's tail and insert the tip of the thermometer into the anus. Push the thermometer forward at an angle approximately parallel to the spine until it is inserted about halfway. If you meet resistance, apply gentle, firm pressure, rotating the tip or modifying the angel until the anal sphincter relaxes and the insertion is complete. Leave the thermometer in place for 1½ to 2 minutes. Protect the thermometer from breaking by holding it in place or cupping your hand around it. Should it break, don't try to remove the fragment. Your cat will probably expel it himself within a short time. Call your veterinarian and let him know the situation, as your cat may need professional assistance.

Newer digital thermometers have the advantage of being unbreakable. They come with disposable, prelubricated plastic sheaths to protect the probe and make cleaning easier. Follow the instructions for use that comes in the package, for these thermometers may differ slightly between manufacturers. The process for insertion, however, is the same as for a glass thermometer.

Some cats show very little resistance to having their temperature checked. Kittens, cantankerous tomcats, and cats with experience to the procedure frequently object. You might have to have an assistant scruff or stretch out your cat to prevent injury and gain his cooperation.

The normal body temperature of a cat is 100.5º to 102.5ºF (38.0º - 39.2ºC). It may register higher if your cat is agitated when you check his temperature. Kittens less than three or four weeks of age cannot regulate their body temperatures well, and require close physical contact with their mother to stay warm. A body temperature of 96ºF (35.6ºC) is essential for normal digestion of milk.

Body temperatures consistently above normal are classified as fever. This is an indication that there is inflammation somewhere in the body. Any form of tissue damage will result in inflammation: trauma, surgery, poison, organ failure or dysfuction, cancer, or infection.

A fever can be a very necessary part of the healing process. Not all fevers are bad. The inflammation associated with surgery is essential to the healing process and often causes a low-grade fever. Fever also prevents the growth of some viruses and bacteria in the body and is a natural defense against disease. This is why antipyretics and antibiotics are not appropriate in all instances of fever. Antibiotics are used to kill bacterial infections. If a fever results from a viral infection, trauma, or surgery, antibiotics may or may not be an appropriate part of your cat's therapy.

Very low body temperatures are usually a grave sign. The inability to maintain a normal body temperature is abnormal in all cats except very young kittens, and requires the immediate attention of your veterinarian.

Pulse and Heart Rate

A pulse is created by a wave of blood as it flows inside a blood vessel. The rhythmic pulse occurs every time the heart beats and pushes the blood forward through the arteries. It is easiest to feel at the arteries that are just under the skin, usually at the femoral artery located on the inside of the thigh. Naturally, detecting the pulse here or anywhere can be very difficult in obese cats. If you place your fingertips on the inside of your cat's upper leg close to the body and move them back and forth, you will feel a thin, cordlike structure. Apply a very light touch and you will feel a slight pulsation. (This does take practice.)

It's much easier to feel the heart beating through the chest wall than to feel the pulse. Hold the chest between your thumb and fingers at the point where the elbow would touch it if it were flexed. To measure the pulse or heart rate, count the number of pulsations of the femoral artery or the heartbeats you feel in 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4. This is roughly the number of beats per minute. The normal value in a cat ranges from 120 to 200 depending on how excited he is.

Compare the numbers that you calculate for pulse and heart rate. They should be the same. In reality, the pulse rate is very difficult to measure even in a normal cat because it is usually so fast and so faint that only veterinarians and their technicians have enough experience to make an accurate count.

In most instances, all your vet will need to know is whether you can detect any pulse at all, either as a sign of life or as a sign of circulatroy failure, usually at the rear limbs in cats.

Respiration

A breath is defined as one inspiration and one expiration. The number of breaths per minute is called the respiratory rate. This is measured by counting the number of times your cat's chest moves in and out in 15 seconds and multiplying that number by 4. In a quiet, sleeping cat this value may be around 30 breaths per minute. In an agitated cat or a cat in pain, it may be around 100 breaths per minute. As the pulse and heart rate, there is a wide range of "normal."

A more useful assessment of respiration is its character. Inhalation should be an easy movement of the chest outward and the exhalation a gentle movement inward, lasting approximately three times longer. Cat experiencing respiratory distress will often have a prolonged inspiration, where the time it takes to inhale is as long or longer than time it takes to exhale. Cats with breathing difficulties usually exhale with greater effort and use their abdominal muscles to "lift or push" air out of their lungs. Cats with respiratory diseases will consistently have respiratory rates near 100 breaths per minute.

Do cats pant? Yes they do, usually when frightened or in pain. The act of panting is not the same as breathing. During panting, air is moved back and forth in the larger airways. Little air is exchanged deep inside the lungs where oxygen is taken in by the blood and carbon dioxide is given up. Panting is also a means of exchanging heat since cats cannot sweat except from the pads of their paws.

Color

Should your vet ever tell you that your cat "is looking a little pale," he is not referring to the cat's haircoat. There are conditions that will change the color of the coat, but when a vet speaks of a cat's color, he is talking about the color of the mucous membranes - the gums, the delicate tissues surrounding the eyes, lips, vulva, and prepuce. These tissues aren't normally pigmented black (except in some varieties as they age, such as the red tabby), and in a healthy cat, they look pink. Loss of the pink color is called pallor; meaning that your cat is pale and suggests the condition of anemia or a low red blood cell count. Anemia is not a disease, but rather a clinical sign of a disease process and warrants immediate investigation.

The sclera, or white portion of the eye, and the inside of the ear are also areas that your veterinarian will examine for color change. These tissues can turn yellow when there is a high level of bilirubin in the blood. Bilirubin is formed from the hemoglobin when the red blood cells break down. When these tissues absorb the bilirubin and turn yellow, the cat is said to be jaundiced or icteric. This can be a sign of liver disease or a massive destruction of red blood cells.

Hydration

Water is the single most important nutrient required in the diet. Cats, originating in the desert, conserve water far better than humans do.

Body water is normally lost in sweat, urine, feces, and breath. Prolonged, intense vomiting or diarrhea, lack of appetite, failure to drink, excessive urination, fever, and hemorrhage are all factors that put an animal's powers to conserve water to the test. Adult cats tolerate water loss much better than kittens. Correcting dehydration and maintaining normal water balance is probably the single most important part of treatment for the ailing cat. Your vet will admininister intravenous or subcutaneous fluids based on the degree of dehydration and the underlying illness.

To evaluate for dehydration, feel your cat's gums. They should be moist and slippery. Lift the skin over the nape of his neck or scruff; it should fall back down right away. In the dehydrated cat, the gums will be tacky and the skin over the neck will stand up like a tent or fall very slowly back to normal. Weight loss of a pound or two over a day or so also signals dehydration.

Collecting Fecal Samples

For most routine examination of the stools for parasites, a sample of feces about the size of a walnut is all your veterinarian will need. If your vet will be examining the specimen for microscopic larvae, he will need about three or four times that amount. The sample should be as fresh as possible, no more than 24 hours old at the time of examination. If you can't bring it in right away, place the sample in a zip-lock baggie in the refrigerator. If the vet is looking for Giardia, a protozoal parasite, the sample should be fresh but not refrigerated.

The sample can be collected in a small jar or plastic bag. Some vets will give you a small container in which the stool will be analyzed, so that no one has to handle the feces after it is collected. A small amount of cat litter or dirt in the sample is not a problem. If your cat's feces are being examined because of diarrhea, blood, or mucus, try to provide a respresentative sample of the abnormal stool.

In an emergency, a veterinarin is able to get enough fecal matter from a rectal swab during an examination provided he is looking for a specific condition or parasite.

Collecting Urine Samples

Your veterinarian may request a urine sample from your cat for analysis of such substances as glucose and ketones if he is diabetic, or for blood, crystals, proteins, and cellular components. If the sample is not to be cultured for bacteria, a sample "caught" at home is usually requested. The easiest way to catch a urine sample is to place a nonabsorbent material over the litter. Some cats will comply nicely if you place a piece of plastic over the box. However, your cat may miss if his target is too small or you may spill the sample during retrieval.

One sure-fire method of catching urine is to place litter in the box as you normally would, then place the whole box, contents and all, inside a tall kitchen garbage bag. Flatten out the air, close the bag with a twistie tie and return the box to its original location. The cat will feel the texture of the litter under his feet. Most cats will readily use the box. Use a syringe to aspirate the urine from the plastic, then squirt it into a sterilized jar or container. If you are checking for urine sugar and ketones, proceed as instructed by your vet. If you are transporting the sample to the animal hospital, refrigerate it if it will be delayed. Be aware that refrigeration can cause changes in the urine and misleading results in some tests. If your cat has a lot of flea dirt in his fur that drops off into the sample, the analysis for blood will be inaccurate. Flea dirt is flea excrement consisting of blood sucked from your cat. An alternative method of collection by your veterinarian may be necessary to eliminate these factors that will cause misinterpretation of lab tests.

How-to Articles in This Series:

Article   1: How to Choose a Vet
Article   2: Hospital Admission of Your Cat
Article   3: Preventive Care: Vaccinations, Serologic Testing, Spaying & Neutering
Article   4: Preventative Care - Dental Care, Flea Control, and Grooming
Article   5: Cooperation - Restraint Procedures and Trimming Claws
Article   6: Keeping Records
Article   7: Care in the Sick Room
Article   8: Keeping Watch - Your Cat's Vital Signs
Article   9: Nutrition for the Cat
Article 10: Feeding the Cat - Including Newborn Kitten Feeding
Article 11: Medications and Prescriptions
Article 12: Basic Nursing 101
Article 13: Managing Bandages and Splints
Article 14: Before and After Surgery and Dentistry
Article 15: Pregnancy and Delivery
Article 16: Euthanasia

Page URL: http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/howto8.html

Resource References:
Caring for Your Sick Cat Carol Himsel Daly, DVM and veterinary consultant
Cat Doctor, Mark Evans, B Vet Med MRVCS
Cornell Book of Cats, Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University