We have been running our annual Wellness Bloodwork Special for the 31 days of October, and we have uncovered some interesting findings in “normal” dogs and cats.
Hypothyroidism in a dog– The thyroid gland controls the metabolic rate, so low thyroid can look just like a dog getting older. They slow down and gain weight. The coat can become dull, sparse, and slow to regrow after a haircut. They seem to get more frequent infections, like skin, ear & urinary tract. Treatment is a daily tablet, and the symptoms go away. It’s like magic. Definitely improves the quality of life for the pet and the owner.
Hyperthyroidism in a cat– This high thyroid disease is common in old cats, and is the opposite of the dog low thyroid. The cats are very active, losing weight despite a great appetite, and often vocalize. They have high heart rates, and all the revving up of the metabolism isn’t good. Treatment varies from daily tablets, referral for radioactive iodine (cure!), or a special diet that is super low in iodine.
Early kidney disease– many dogs develop kidney failure as the kidneys slowly degenerate with age. Until now we only had BUN and creatinine as tests, and they only become elevated when the kidney function is less than25-30% of normal. The new SDMA test can detect much earlier function loss, so we can make good choices to manage those kidneys. There are no magic pills to regenerate kidneys though, and kidney transplants are out for most dogs. So early detection is the best we have right now.
Early heart disease– the cardiopet- Pro BNP test measures stretching in heart muscle associated with heart disease. If this test is elevated, we look more closely at the heart and try to catch problems before they become symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath. With early medications, we can definitely increase the life expectancy and quality of life for dogs with congestive heart disease.
Leukemia-We had one healthy dog that we found white blood cell cancer in the blood. It really floored me.
Urinary tract infection– This dog had no symptoms despite a lot of bacteria and white blood cells in urine. Another had asymptomatic crystals.
Intestinal parasite check– one asymptomatic Giardia.
What we didn’t find this year– any Heartworm positives. I truly expected to find these.
No diabetics. YEAH!
No chronic infections with high WBC (only the leukemia boy).
No unexplained liver disease. I usually pick up 2-3 of these in October.
These are the reasons we do wellness bloodwork (and urine & fecal checks). Just like people, we can find stuff early so we can make educated choices to improve the quality and quantity of days of our pets lives.
