Objective
To establish a reference interval for plasma lactate in a population of healthy adult cats on a laboratory analyzer (Nova Biomedical Critical Care Xpress [CCX]) and 2 commercially available point‐of‐care (POC) analyzers (Abbott i‐STAT [i‐STAT] and Nova Biomedical Lactate Plus [LP]), and to compare the level of agreement of lactate measurement between the laboratory analyzer and POC analyzers.
Design
Prospective observational study.
Setting
University veterinary teaching hospital.
Animals
Forty‐seven healthy adult cats.
Interventions
Jugular phlebotomy.
Measurements and Main Results
In this population, plasma lactate reference interval was 0.67–5.44 mmol/L for the CCX, 0.65–5.16 mmol/L for the i‐STAT, and 0.68–4.39 mmol/L for the LP. Comparisons were made between lactate measurements on 2 point‐of‐care analyzers and the laboratory analyzer using the Bland–Altman method. For the comparison of CCX and i‐STAT, the bias was −0.10 mmol/L; for the CCX and LP, the bias was −0.24 mmol/L.
Conclusions
Measurements of plasma lactate in cats using the i‐STAT showed acceptable agreement with the CCX. The LP showed weaker agreement. However, both POC analyzers are suitable for measurement of lactate in cats, provided results from different POC analyzers are not directly compared. This study identified a larger reference interval for plasma lactate concentration in cats than what has been previously reported.