Please Note: We will be closed on Tuesday, December 24th - Thursday, December 26th for Christmas and Wednesday, January 1st in observance of New Years!

Compassion

Pet Wellness & Geriatric Blood Work Profiles

Routine wellness blood work and other routine diagnostic testing are important for senior pets.

Book Appointment

Regular wellness visits are essential for every stage of your pet’s life, so don’t forget to keep your senior pet’s scheduled wellness appointments. The best way to help protect your pet as he or she ages is to understand the aging process in pets. We understand that process and can help you help your pet. Even if your senior pet is already being treated for a medical condition, treatment recommendations can change as a condition progresses. Sometimes medication dosages need to be adjusted, or medication may need to be changed. Routine wellness blood work and other routine diagnostic testing are important for senior pets because these tests allow us to evaluate how your pet’s health is either responding to current management strategies or changing with age.

At My Vet, we recommend annual blood work, especially for pets over the age of five.

Cytology

At the My Vet Animal Clinic, we use cytology to examine the surface of the skin or ear canals for evidence of bacterial or yeast infections. This involves collecting surface samples of the skin on a slide, staining them, and then evaluating them using a microscope. In addition to identifying infection, cytology can also be used to identify the type of cells in a skin mass, look for evidence of ringworm and autoimmune diseases, and inspect the appearance of a patient’s hair if there is hair loss. This type of sample collection and testing can further enhance diagnostic insight to develop a more specific diagnostic and/or treatment plan for your pet. We perform our cytology testing on-site to ensure accurate results and deliver accurate reporting. By offering this service on-site, we can provide results in less time than clinics that rely on off-site laboratories.

Urinalysis

A urinalysis test is a type of test that checks for levels of specific chemicals in your pet’s urine. Abnormal levels of certain chemicals can be a sign of particular illnesses. The urinalysis screenings for imbalances can indicate issues such as kidney disease, kidney infections, bacterial infections, urinary tract disease, diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, urinary bladder disease, autoimmune disease, Cushing’s disease, prostate disease, or hepatitis and liver conditions.

Blood Work
Blood work is usually a combination of a complete blood count (CBC) and a blood chemical analysis. Blood work is a basic evaluation tool. Pets, particularly those in their senior years, are suggested to have a CBC at every annual examination. Blood work allows a veterinarian to monitor the progression of a pet’s disease.

Routine blood tests are run before anesthesia and surgery to make sure that your pet does not have a disease or illness that would make anesthesia or surgery a significant risk. This lab work is very similar to the “pre-op labs” that your doctor would recommend before you have any procedure performed on yourself.

Some of our common in-house laboratory tests include:

  • Complete blood counts
  • Pre-operative screenings
  • Major organs including liver and kidney functions
  • Thyroid levels
  • Phenobarbital levels
  • More in-depth testing available