By The Pawline veterinary teamVeterinary-reviewed by Alastair Greenway, BVM&S MRCVS · 25 July 2026
Reference range · g/dL
5.28.2
Reference
5.2–8.2
Direction
Both unusually high and low values carry meaning.
This is the conventional reference interval. Your pet’s own report may print a slightly different range — always read the value against that. Sign in to see your pet’s value on this strip.
Total protein is albumin plus all the globulins (mostly antibodies) added together. Because two very different proteins are combined, the total is only the headline — it's the split between albumin and globulin that tells the story, so both unusually high and low values are worth understanding.
Total protein is exactly what it sounds like: the sum of all the protein dissolved in the liquid part of the blood. It has two main components with very different jobs — albumin, the liver-made protein that holds water in the vessels and carries cargo, and the globulins, a family dominated by antibodies from the immune system. Because the total lumps these together, its real value comes from breaking it back apart.
Total protein is albumin plus the globulins (mostly antibodies). The split between the two matters more than the total.
That is why total protein is best thought of as a starting point: it flags that something is off, and the albumin/globulin split — and the albumin:globulin ratio — says what. This is also why the middle of the range is usually the reassuring zone.
Reading a high result
A high total protein (hyperproteinaemia) has two broad explanations, distinguished by the split:
Raised globulins — the more clinically important pattern. Chronic inflammation, chronic infection, and certain immune conditions drive up antibody production. A marked, particular kind of globulin rise can point to specific diseases that need dedicated investigation.
Dehydration — all proteins concentrate together when water is lost, so albumin and globulin rise in parallel. This corrects with rehydration.
So a high total protein prompts the question: is albumin high too (suggesting dehydration), or is globulin doing the rising on its own (suggesting an immune or inflammatory process)?
Reading a low result
A low total protein (hypoproteinaemia) usually means proteins are being lost or not made:
Both albumin and globulin low together suggests loss of whole blood (haemorrhage) or leakage from the gut (protein-losing enteropathy).
Albumin low with globulin preserved points more towards liver disease, kidney protein loss, or inflammation.
Because the water-holding function lives mostly in albumin, a low total protein driven by low albumin can lead to fluid leaking into tissues.
In chronic disease
Total protein, read with its components, is a useful longitudinal marker. A creeping rise in total protein driven by globulins can be an early sign of chronic immune stimulation or a developing immune condition; a falling total protein tracks ongoing loss from the gut, kidneys, or bleeding. Watching the total together with the albumin:globulin ratio over time often reveals the direction of a slow process before it becomes obvious.
Cat vs dog
Total protein is interpreted the same way in both species, with cats running slightly higher globulins on average. In cats, a markedly high globulin (and total protein) is one of the findings that can accompany certain chronic infectious and inflammatory diseases, so the globulin-driven pattern is taken seriously. In both dogs and cats, the discipline is the same: never read the total without looking at the split beneath it.
How it's measured
Total protein is measured on a routine chemistry panel, in g/dL (US) or g/L (UK/SI). Albumin is measured directly and globulin is usually calculated (total protein minus albumin). A separate laboratory technique, serum protein electrophoresis, can break the globulins down further when a specific pattern needs characterising. Read the value against your own report's range.
What to do next
Because the total is only a headline, the useful next step when it is abnormal is to look at the albumin and globulin beneath it with your vet, and at the albumin:globulin ratio. A dehydration pattern is confirmed and corrected simply; a globulin-driven rise or a loss pattern points towards a fuller work-up of the immune system, gut, liver or kidneys as the split directs.
Reference ranges reflect conventional laboratory intervals. Always interpret against your own lab's printed range and your veterinary surgeon's judgement. A brighter optimal band is shown only where a published guideline defines one, and it is cited.
This page is educational and is not a diagnosis. Lab results are interpreted in the full clinical context by your veterinary surgeon; a single value rarely tells the whole story.
