Coagulation Profiling of Random-Source Cats

The chemistry and hemostatic parameters of class B vendor cats (Felis catus) can show wide levels of variation, possibly because of initial health status. We compared prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, common pathway assay and thrombin time between Class B vendor cats (n = 30) and a control group of healthy cats (n = 16). The antiprotease activities of antiXa, antiIIa, heparin cofactor II, and antithrombin were measured also. Plasma samples from citrated blood were analyzed by using standard clotting assays and commercially available chromogenic substrate assays. Tests for homogeneity of variances and 1-way ANOVA were used to test for significant differences between groups. Results of ANOVA were highly significant between groups for heparin cofactor II and Heptest activity levels. Variances were significantly different between groups for prothrombin time; therefore, an ANOVA was not done. These studies suggest that the class B cats exhibited sufficiently wide variations in their coagulation parameters that they may not be optimal subjects for vascular or cardiovascular research.