Five tests clear a cat for anesthesia: a physical exam with history, a CBC, a chemistry panel with electrolytes, a urinalysis, and chest imaging. The whole set costs about 425 USD in the US, 343 GBP in the UK, and 750 CNY in China, and it is only valid for 7 days.
The 7-day limit is not paperwork. A creatinine measured on the 1st says nothing about the dehydration a cat picked up on the 12th, and an anesthetic plan built on a 3-week-old panel is a plan built on a different cat.
Why 7 days, and not 30
Body weight, hydration, and kidney function move in days, not months. A cat that stops eating for 48 hours before a dental can arrive 6 percent dehydrated with a creatinine up 0.3 to 0.5 mg/dL from its baseline. Seven days is the window where the numbers still describe the cat on the table.
Most practices draw the line at 7 days and will repeat a panel that is 8 to 14 days old before an elective procedure. A clinic that accepts a 6-week-old panel for a 12-year-old cat is making an exception, and the exception is the cat's risk.
Test 1: exam, history, and 5 vitals
The exam is the visit fee and takes 10 minutes. What it must record: weight to 0.1 kg, temperature 37.5 to 39.2 °C, heart rate 140 to 220, respiratory rate 20 to 30, and a systolic pressure of 90 to 160 mmHg. A new murmur at grade 2 or higher, or a heart rate over 220 at rest, sends the cat for an echocardiogram before anything else.
History matters as much: any vomiting in the last 7 days, any steroid or diuretic started in the last 30 days, and the last meal time. Those 3 answers change fasting instructions and drug choices.
Test 2: CBC, 4 values
Hct 30 to 45 percent, white cells 5.5 to 19.5 ×10⁹/L, platelets 200 to 600 ×10⁹/L, and a differential. An Hct under 20 percent postpones an elective dental; platelets under 50 ×10⁹/L postpone any extraction, because the bleeding risk in a small jaw outweighs the dental disease.
A mild stress leukogram in an otherwise healthy cat is not a reason to cancel. Repeat it in 2 to 4 weeks; a real infection climbs, a stress response does not.
Test 3: chemistry with electrolytes
The 6 values that decide the plan: creatinine, BUN, ALT, glucose, potassium, and sodium. Creatinine above 2.0 mg/dL means fluids and a dose plan set by the anesthetist, not a fixed protocol. Potassium under 3.0 or above 5.5 mmol/L is a rhythm risk and gets corrected before induction. Glucose above 250 mg/dL in a cat that has been fasting 6 hours needs a second look at diabetes.
ALT above 3 times the upper limit changes which induction agent is chosen, and albumin under 2.0 g/dL changes how fluid is given. None of these numbers is a stop sign on its own; each one is a decision the anesthetist must make before the cat is asleep.
Test 4: urinalysis, 3 readings
Specific gravity, protein, and sediment. A specific gravity under 1.030 in a cat fed dry food is a concentrating defect worth flagging; over 1.060 suggests dehydration and a fluid plan before induction. Sediment with bacteria and white cells means a urinary infection, which is treated for 7 to 10 days before an elective procedure, because a bladder infection plus a catheter is a sepsis risk.
Collect the sample the morning of the visit if possible; a sample carried in from the night before is 12 hours old and its cells have already lysed.
Test 5: chest imaging, 2 views
Right lateral and ventrodorsal films, or an echocardiogram if a murmur is heard. Films catch what auscultation misses: a 3 cm mass, pleural fluid, or a heart that is 60 percent of the chest width on the lateral view. Cost is 95 to 200 depending on region and whether a radiologist reads it.
A cat with a heart murmur gets the echo instead: 150 to 250 USD and 20 minutes, and it answers the 1 question films cannot, which is whether the cat tolerates the fluid load of a 45-minute anesthetic.
What the 5 tests cost, 3 regions
| Test | US (USD) | UK (GBP) | China (CNY) | Result time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Exam, history, 5 vitals | 60 | 50 | 50 | 0.5 hours |
| 2. CBC | 70 | 55 | 120 | 1 hour |
| 3. Chemistry with electrolytes | 130 | 105 | 320 | 2 hours |
| 4. Urinalysis | 45 | 38 | 60 | 1 hour |
| 5. Chest films, 2 views | 120 | 95 | 200 | 3 hours |
| Total, 5 tests | 425 | 343 | 750 | same day |
The 5 rows add to 425, 343, and 750. Across regions and cities the same set varies 1.5 to 3 times, mostly on whether the chemistry is run in house and whether a radiologist reads the films.
The numbers that postpone surgery
Hct under 20 percent, platelets under 50 ×10⁹/L, creatinine above 2.0 mg/dL with a potassium above 5.5 mmol/L, glucose above 250 mg/dL, temperature above 39.5 °C, or a systolic pressure under 90 mmHg. Any 1 of those 6 pushes an elective dental back 7 to 14 days and turns the visit into a workup.
This is the point of the panel: not to approve the anesthetic, but to catch the cats where the plan has to change. The anesthetist sets every drug dose by weight, body condition, and ASA grade; those numbers are theirs to calculate at the machine, not a number to copy from a page.
What restarts the 7-day clock
Any new medication in the last 7 days, vomiting or diarrhea for more than 24 hours, a fever, a new murmur, a weight change over 5 percent, or any visit for a different illness. Each of those makes the old panel describe a cat that no longer exists, and the panel is repeated before induction.
Book the exam 3 to 5 days before the procedure, not 3 weeks. That leaves 48 hours for a repeat test if 1 value is off, and it keeps the 7-day window intact on the day of anesthesia.
The week before: 5 steps
- Book the panel for 3 to 5 days before the dental, never earlier than 7.
- Fast 4 to 6 hours the morning of the procedure; water until 2 hours before.
- Bring the medication list, including any steroid, diuretic, or supplement from the last 30 days.
- Ask for the actual numbers, then check creatinine, potassium, Hct, and glucose against the 4 cutoffs above.
- If 1 value is borderline, ask whether a repeat in 48 hours keeps the cat inside the 7-day window.
For how these values are read line by line, see the reference ranges at the senior panel line guide and the potassium and sodium rules at the electrolyte panel page; the price of the whole set sits in the cost tool.
Terms mentioned in this article
Frequently asked
Why do pre-anesthetic results expire after 7 days?
Because weight, hydration and kidney values move in days. A cat that stops eating for 48 hours before a dental can arrive 6 percent dehydrated with creatinine up 0.3 to 0.5 mg/dL from baseline. Seven days is the window in which the numbers still describe the cat on the table, which is why most practices repeat anything older.
Can a healthy young cat skip the chest x-rays?
Often yes, and many practices do skip films for a cat under 2 with a normal heart and lungs on auscultation. The films stop being optional from about age 8, with any murmur, or with a respiratory rate over 30 at rest, because those are the cats where a 3 cm mass or pleural fluid changes the anesthetic plan.
What single result cancels an elective dental?
Creatinine above 2.0 mg/dL combined with potassium above 5.5 mmol/L is the clearest one, because it means both reduced clearance and a rhythm risk on induction. An Hct under 20 percent or platelets under 50 ×10⁹/L also postpones the procedure by 7 to 14 days while the cause is worked up.