Senior Pet Health
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We love providing our senior pets with the care and support they need to age gracefully. It is important to be aware of your dog's body condition, as dogs get older they are more likely to develop:
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It is important to establish a baseline bloodwork for future issues.
Senior panel bloodwork should start at age 8 and age 5 for breeds over 90 lbs. (as they age faster). It is valuable to establish a baseline with bloodwork to help us diagnose problems earlier and we have the results for comparison on a yearly basis. When owning a senior pet, you must be aware of subtle changes and some of our recommendations to discuss with the doctor and our qualified technicians.
The following tests are performed in a senior panel (typically within 20 minutes of examination):
The following tests are performed in a senior panel (typically within 20 minutes of examination):
- Blood work that can help us detect a thyroid issue, kidney disease, diabetes, and even certain types of cancer.
- CBC – Complete Blood Count – checks for white blood cells for infectious or immune mediated conditions
- Urine screen- checks for bladder infections, bladder and kidneys, elevated bilirubin, diabetes and renal disease
- Fecal screen- check for intestinal parasites for chronic diarrhea
- Heartworm and Tick Disease Screen – checks for lymes, erlichia, anaplasmosis, and heartworm disease; all of which can lead to lameness, renal failure and neurological problems
- T-4 – Thyroid test that checks for Hypo/Hyperthyroidism that can lead to weight loss or gain, heart disease and poor coat
- SDMA* – Early detection of kidney disease.