In human medicine, we are all pretty used to regular bloodwork to monitor our bodies and how they are working, especially in older patients. Did you know that regular bloodwork is just as important as our pets!?
WHY DOES MY DOG NEED BLOODWORK?
In addition to vaccines and annual physicals, dogs also need comprehensive blood tests. The value of getting your dog blood tested is assurance your dog is healthy. Bloodwork allows us to check in with your pet’s immune system and internal organ functions. Letting us double check that nothing suspicious is hiding out and clues us into medical issues before the cause symptoms.
WHAT IF I KNOW MY PET IS young & HEALTHY?
Bloodwork not only assures that all of your pet’s body is indeed healthy, but it establishes a baseline. That means that as we watch your pet’s blood values over time, when we see a small abnormality, we will know whether it is important or not, based on your pet’s previous bloodwork.
Genetic issues are another reason behind bloodwork. It allows us to catch disorders that can be present since birth. In breeding animals, this also allows us to advise us on future breeding plans.
what if my pet is older?
Bloodwork on a regular basis is incredibly important. Medical issues with the kidneys, liver, urinary system, and other body systems tend to make themselves known as our pets age.
Regular bloodwork checks in with all of these body systems, alerting us to issues and helping us monitor ongoing issues. We recommend geriatric bloodwork every six to twelve months for older pets.
WHERE DO WE DO BLOODWORK?
As opposed to human medicine, where you have to go to a “lab department” etc, in our hospital, we come to you! We offer full bloodwork analysis and handling in-house.
We simply draw a sample from your pet, and handle it in-house. We can also perform extensive testing and send the sample off to a specialty lab if necessary.
