Very often vets will advise on getting blood tests carried out on your pets. Blood tests are important to monitor the health of your pet and also identify any potential health risks that your pet is facing. However, because there is extra expense involved in getting this bloodwork done, some pet owners neglect to have these tests carried out regularly.
Why are blood tests important for your pets? In this article, you will learn about 4 main reasons why you should arrange for regular bloodwork to be carried out on your pet.
Top Reasons Why Blood Tests for Pets are Important
1 Your pet’s health
Usually, on the first visit to your local pet clinic, the vet will recommend arranging a blood test for your pet. Even if your pet is seemingly healthy, a blood test will help to determine a baseline for future blood results.
This will help in the future to monitor the health of your pet and make sure and provide preventative care to reduce the risk of disease.
Blood tests will also check to see if your pet needs an immunization booster.
2 Identify disease
Many pet owners take their dog or cat to the vet if they are showing unusual symptoms. For example, if your pet has unexplained weight loss or weight gain, your cat is urinating more frequently, or they are scratching more that often, a blood test will help to identify the underlying disease.
The blood test will show up certain proteins, enzymes, and white blood cells that may indicate an underlying health condition. This can help pet owners get the best treatment to look after the health of their pet and also save on costlier vet bills in the future.
Usually, diseases like diabetes, kidney and liver diseases, or anemia are quickly identified in bloodwork and the appropriate treatment can be carried out.
3 Pre-surgery
If your pet has to undergo surgery, then bloodwork tests will help to make sure that all vital organs are working properly. This will help the vet to prescribe any medication beforehand to improve the blood results to ensure surgery is a success and your pet gets back to good health.
4 Viral or parasite infections
Sometimes pet owners notice that their dog or cat is acting strangely only to find that a blood test shows the presence of a viral, bacterial, or parasite infection. For example, infections usually cause more white blood cells to show up in bloodwork.
Bloodwork for dogs is important to look for evidence of heartworm, Lyme’s disease, canine distemper, or kennel cough.
Blood test for cats is essential to check for signs of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus (FeLV), or leptospirosis.
In conclusion
So, if your vet recommends arranging a blood test for your pet, remember that this is to check for any signs of disease or infection and start treatment at the earliest possible time.