Effusion pro tip, quick and easy osteosarcoma diagnosis, why you might want to keep some desmopressin on the shelf, and are 'wellness screens' just a money-making exercise?
Fundamentally, working in a shelter, basic screening (CBC, biochem) is done prior to desexing, dentals or any surgery, and normal physical health checks for lameness, heart murmurs etc. But with a severely limited budget, we cannot provide anything further, as much as Idearly wish to. Thank you for your wonderful work!
I would love a "kitty set" of tests, all in one, so we can identify glucose, thyroid function, and renal function as we well as basic haematology.
The usual CBC and biochem works well for dogs, but tacking on cholesterol or T4 is valuable too. Especially in shelters where the history is unknown so one is working blind.
You're so on point with targeted testing though - I have a very sick kitty, with elevated amylase, but that doesn't necessarily mean much in cats according to Côte, so it was a bit of a waste of a test with everything else reading normal.
I'll watch this space for your targetted testing ideas!
We offer annual screening bloods to some patients included ‘free’ on platinum health plan. It’s exceptionally rare anything will come up unless we’re expecting it (ie clinical signs). Maybe bit more so with cats rather than dogs. We offer discounted screening bloods for other health plans and recently a promo on wellness screening - very low uptake - owners rarely want to spend the money (even when discounted) if they see nothing wrong with their pets at home. Maybe I don’t sell hard enough - I do myself struggle with value of these tests if patient clinically normal. And often like you say - going down a route of investigation because of a mild elevation in some parameter (very mildly elevated ALP or non ionised calcium comes up quite often). Urine, bloods and BP measures in older cats probably of most value - although do think already seeing subtle signs in the ones we do that have significant results - we’re not doing these on younger animals with good body condition and no signs of slowing down/change to appetite or drinking.
Keep up the great work Hugh. Love your posts. Love Vet Vault 😊
As a Locum, I would recommend a wellness BT and/ or a urine analysis for older, senior animals especially cats. For cats, From around 9 years old. For dogs, the age would be breed specific. Little dogs 9-10 years. Big dogs 4-5 ish. Brachys - well anyone’s guess. In the uk I generally work with Vets4pets, who have a health care plan that offers a free urine dip and sg, yearly and a discounted wellness BT. I generally encourage owners to take up the free urine sample. ( there is usually a small charge for Katkor or uripet). Some owners will do the discounted BT as they already at the practice. However if the animal is nervy or non compliant I would always start with a non invasive urine test. If any changes on that especially the sg ( esp with a cat) or if there has been any changes from the norm with the pet, I would encourage a BT with urine. Hope that helps, Hugh. Any who doesn’t love a rabbit hole???? 😉
Great, thanks for this Heather. I've been working in emergency for so long that I'm kinda out of touch with what's happening in general practice where we care about preventative care. I suppose my reasoning for this rabbit hole is to see if the screening tests can prevent those GP patients from ending up with us in emergency with something preventable!
Fundamentally, working in a shelter, basic screening (CBC, biochem) is done prior to desexing, dentals or any surgery, and normal physical health checks for lameness, heart murmurs etc. But with a severely limited budget, we cannot provide anything further, as much as Idearly wish to. Thank you for your wonderful work!
I'd love to figure out which tests REALLY tell us something useful so we can run a targeted, cost-effective profile - only when we need to.
I would love a "kitty set" of tests, all in one, so we can identify glucose, thyroid function, and renal function as we well as basic haematology.
The usual CBC and biochem works well for dogs, but tacking on cholesterol or T4 is valuable too. Especially in shelters where the history is unknown so one is working blind.
You're so on point with targeted testing though - I have a very sick kitty, with elevated amylase, but that doesn't necessarily mean much in cats according to Côte, so it was a bit of a waste of a test with everything else reading normal.
I'll watch this space for your targetted testing ideas!
Senior Wellness( CBC, comprehensive chem, T4 and UA), young adult (CBC, abbreviated chem, UA) annual fecal testing.
We offer annual screening bloods to some patients included ‘free’ on platinum health plan. It’s exceptionally rare anything will come up unless we’re expecting it (ie clinical signs). Maybe bit more so with cats rather than dogs. We offer discounted screening bloods for other health plans and recently a promo on wellness screening - very low uptake - owners rarely want to spend the money (even when discounted) if they see nothing wrong with their pets at home. Maybe I don’t sell hard enough - I do myself struggle with value of these tests if patient clinically normal. And often like you say - going down a route of investigation because of a mild elevation in some parameter (very mildly elevated ALP or non ionised calcium comes up quite often). Urine, bloods and BP measures in older cats probably of most value - although do think already seeing subtle signs in the ones we do that have significant results - we’re not doing these on younger animals with good body condition and no signs of slowing down/change to appetite or drinking.
Keep up the great work Hugh. Love your posts. Love Vet Vault 😊
As a Locum, I would recommend a wellness BT and/ or a urine analysis for older, senior animals especially cats. For cats, From around 9 years old. For dogs, the age would be breed specific. Little dogs 9-10 years. Big dogs 4-5 ish. Brachys - well anyone’s guess. In the uk I generally work with Vets4pets, who have a health care plan that offers a free urine dip and sg, yearly and a discounted wellness BT. I generally encourage owners to take up the free urine sample. ( there is usually a small charge for Katkor or uripet). Some owners will do the discounted BT as they already at the practice. However if the animal is nervy or non compliant I would always start with a non invasive urine test. If any changes on that especially the sg ( esp with a cat) or if there has been any changes from the norm with the pet, I would encourage a BT with urine. Hope that helps, Hugh. Any who doesn’t love a rabbit hole???? 😉
Great, thanks for this Heather. I've been working in emergency for so long that I'm kinda out of touch with what's happening in general practice where we care about preventative care. I suppose my reasoning for this rabbit hole is to see if the screening tests can prevent those GP patients from ending up with us in emergency with something preventable!