Why do blood work?

Many times, blood work is recommended during your pet’s examination. Besides the physical examination itself, the doctors may recommend additional diagnostic tests to obtain more information about the overall health of your pet. The most common tests that we run are complete blood counts (CBC) and general profiles (profile) as well as a urinalysis. The CBC looks at the red and white blood cells and platelets. Certain diseases may cause alterations in the number of red and white blood cells. Such an example is anemia, a low red blood cell count due to diseases such as kidney failure. Bacterial infections can cause an increase in the white blood cells as they are responsible for “fighting” infections. In this issue Dr. Crowley's Message National Pet Week Poison Control Ticks, Lyme Disease and Heartworm reminder Why do blood work? In Memorium News Archives The profile looks more at the metabolic functions of the body. This includes kidney and liver values as well as electrolytes and glucose. Diabetes is an example of a disease that can cause abnormally high glucose readings. Some animals may need periodic testing of their blood work due to potential side effects of medications that they may be taking (such as Rimadyl). We may also do blood work as part of a screening tool for your pet to get some baseline information and to help detect diseases earlier than the pet would show signs. This is helpful as the pet ages and becomes more prone to certain conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and kidney problems. Unfortunately, there are no commercially available tests to “screen” for specific types of cancer at this time. However, certain abnormalities may be more suggestive of problems such as cancer occurring. In addition to these blood tests, we also screen for heartworm, feline leukemia, and feline immunodeficiency virus routinely. There are also numerous other diagnostic blood tests that we use as a tool to help diagnose, treat and enhance the health of your pet. If you have any questions or are interested in any blood screening tests for your pet, please call the office for more information.