Dog bloodwork

[Terri]

I took my 14 year old dog to the vet yesterday. She gave her pain meds for arthritis and sold me on a full blood workup. Past vets took blood from her front leg - in front of me. This vet took her to another room for the blood and urine. When my dog returned, her leg wasn't wet or shaved. I don't know where she got the blood from. This was at 5p.m. yesterday and the vet said she'd have results either today or Monday. Do vets do the workup for liver, cancer, etc.? Just wondering cause my doctor isn't able to do that in a few hours for me, so I was shocked that the vet is able to do it. Also, she is constantly trying to push teeth cleaning and other things. It gets old. My dog is extremely nervous and old. I don't want to push unnecessary treatments on a 1/2 blind, 1/2 deaf, nervous dog.

[Melanie]

I hope your Ole Gal is doing better.

[jamiedolan]

I took my 14 year old dog to the vet yesterday. She gave her pain meds for arthritis and sold me on a full blood workup. Past vets took blood from her front leg - in front of me. This vet took her to another room for the blood and urine. When my dog returned, her leg wasn't wet or shaved. I don't know where she got the blood from. This was at 5p.m. yesterday and the vet said she'd have results either today or Monday. Do vets do the workup for liver, cancer, etc.? Just wondering cause my doctor isn't able to do that in a few hours for me, so I was shocked that the vet is able to do it. Also, she is constantly trying to push teeth cleaning and other things. It gets old. My dog is extremely nervous and old. I don't want to push unnecessary treatments on a 1/2 blind, 1/2 deaf, nervous dog.

You typically do not need to shave an area to draw blood. They can draw from the neck or leg. Neck is used for a larger amount of blood. Most of these tests can be run in an hour or two for human or animals. If a vet office lack the lab equipment in house, then they typically send it out via a service and will have the results by first thing in the morning. The human health care system is just a mess, vets are forced to be efficient by competition. It is very hard to detect most types of cancer is dogs from bloodwork, but looking at liver enzymes would be very common. They should have given you the results that show what they tested.

I just posted an article that you should read about anesthesia if your considering having any teeth cleaning done. I know some vets may over-promote dental work, and it isn't necessarily the best option in some cases, especially if a dog is already ill, the risks / benefits have to be weighed with a vet you trust. Dental problems though can lead to serious issues like heart disease.


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