Your Pet's Blood Testing Demystified

Blood work is an important part of veterinary health care. Pets cannot always tell us when they aren't feeling top notch. Sometimes the blood tests can warn us of a future problem before it has become severe. This allows us time to, hopefully, change the course of the disease. These cells and chemistries are affected by many diseases and illnesses. Knowing which are affected and their significance helps your veterinarian to diagnose and treat your pet's illness. Changes in these values over time can help us to monitor your pet's recovery from an illness - as well as to detect changes early.

Therefore, having baseline readings - starting at age 7 years - is very important.

Below is a table of some of the blood tests and what we can learn from them.

First the Blood Cells:

Type of Cell	Subtype of Cell	What it means
Red Blood Cells		Red blood cells carry oxygen to the cells
	Morphology	Shape, is it damaged, is its' size correct
	Count	How many
	PCV	How many red blood cells (percentage), can indicate anemia and dehydration
	Hemoglobin	Iron content of the cells
White Blood Cells		Immune system cells
	Neutrophils, Bands	Fight infection
	Eosinophils	Parasites and tissue damage
	Monocytes	Inflammation
	Lymphocytes	Immunity, can be altered in some types of cancer

Now the chemistries:
It's important to know that many of these tests are affected by many organs and diseases. The combinations of normal and abnormal values help your veterinarian to diagnose your pets' illness. The tests are grouped loosely to help simplify a very complex subject.

The Senior Wellness Screen includes:

Tests					Used For:
TP (total protein), ALB (albumin), Glob (globulins)					These proteins are for healing, immunity and building healthy organs
BUN (blood urea nitrogen), Cr (creatinine), Phos (phosphorus)					These test kidney function. The BUN is more sensitive to hydration than the Cr. The Cr helps us to determine the severity and length of time that the kidneys have been damaged. The Phos helps build bones, but is affected by the kidney function and can make the pet feel ill.
ALT, ALP, GGT, Bili (bilirubin), ALB (albumin)					These tests reveal various types of liver disease, gall bladder and bile duct disease - as well as some hormonal imbalances. They also can change in some diseases that can cause anemia.
Glucose					Diabetes Mellitus, mal-digestion diseases
Na+ (sodium), K+ (potassium), Cl- (chloride), Ca++ (calcium)					These electrolytes are important for detection of hydration problems, hormonal problems, and heart function issues. They can even indicate a possible problem with cancer.
Amylase, Lipase, Cholesterol					These are primarily used to indicate digestive problems, but can also be affected by kidney function, food intake and obesity.
T4 (thyroid value)					Though not a complete thyroid function panel, this particular value aids in the diagnosis if feline hyperthyroidism (High thyroid) is suspected. It can also indicate a need to further investigate thyroid function in dogs who might have hypothyroidism (low thyroid).

Although these are not the only tests included in a blood work up, these are the major categories. If you have any questions about blood work or test results, please feel free to call us at
309-685-4707 or 309-685-4715.