Bloodwork is a way to evaluate the internal organs of your animal. We can identify early liver, kidney, and thyroid disease or diabetes, high cholesterol, and anemia. Animals age faster than we do. We estimate our pets to age 7 years for each year that we do. Diseases do arise quicker, and we can find them sooner by running bloodwork on your pet.
How often should I get this done?
We recommend monitoring your animal each year to find these early problems. Many times we can slow down or reverse diseases that are found early. If bloodwork is done only when the animal is sick, or as your pet shows clinical signs, the progression of disease may be harder to treat or reverse.
We start offering animals bloodwork by age 2. This helps us to establish their baseline values and monitor minor changes or patterns that may occur as they age. Bye age 6, we offer a more extensive test to pinpoint more common problems related to age. For example, your pets' thyroid is evaluated when they are older due to the high incidence of thyroid disease in older animals. We do send off some of our routine extensive bloodwork to minimize finances for our clients, but we are able to perform the same work up in house, if the need does arise.
What kinds of bloodwork are offered?
Animals 2-5 years old are offered a six panel test called the
Annual Health Screen. We can identify kidney or liver disease and check for diabetes. Animals ages 6 years and up are offered the
Geriatric Health Screen. This is a two-part test that evaluates a CBC (complete blood count) and a GHP (general health profile). The CBC checks red and white blood cell values and identifies anemia or infection that may exist.The GHP is a more comprehensive way to evaluate internal organs using a 12-panel test. We can identify liver, kidney, thyroid, and pancreatic diseases as well as some endocrine problems. We also measure electrolytes with our bloodwork to make sure hydration status is sufficient.
We place a high importance on checking your animals' bloodwork to let us know the health status of your pet. If you have any questions concerning these tests on your animal, please ask our staff here at Auburn Veterinary Hospital.
| |
| |
Page updated Mar. 5, 2007 by Jennifer Cutchens. |
 |
|
