145 – Feline Essential Wellness + Folate

RETIRED CODE: Please See Code 137

 

Background:

Feline Essential Vitamins + Folate  includes an inflammation assessment with Haptoglobin (HPT) and three of the most important essential vitamins: Vitamin D (25OHD), Cobalamin (Vitamin B12), and Folate (Fol).  Apparently healthy cats should not have systemic inflammation.  When present, source of inflammation should be identified and resolved if possible before it becomes chronic.  Chronic inflammation leads to the development of serious diseases including cancer.  Detect occult disease in the otherwise healthy looking cat using the single most effective test for overall health: HPT. Additionally, Vitamin D is one of the most important hormone in the body, is responsible for supporting the innate immune system and has a role in disease prevention and management.  Sufficient levels are anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and pro-immunity.  Cobalamin and folate are chiefly response for DNA/RNA production as critical cofactors.

Clinical Applications:

1. Diet Changes
2. Gastrointestinal Disease
3. Inflammatory Disease
4. Cancer Patients
5. General Wellness – preventative
6. PLE Patients
7. Patients on NSAIDs or Corticosteroids

Recommendations:

Health screening using a sensitive inflammatory marker, HPT, should begin once the cat reaches an adult stage.  Annual testing while apparently healthy is the minimum recommended interval with bi-annual screening being the most effective way to detect the presence of occult disease.

Evaluating essential vitamins levels should start once the dog or cat reaches adult stages and establishes their adult diet.  Once diet has been stable for 3 months, test baseline vitamins and correct any insufficiencies with supplementation, or consider a diet change if values are considerably low.  VDI provides patient-specific dosing guidelines for both Vitamin D and B12.  Recheck intervals are every year once sufficient unless diet or health changes occur.