Chewaca is a 10 year old Schnauzer who is a regular patient of ours. She came for her 6 month examination and Bordetella vaccination in May. Her owner said she had been doing very well and nothing had changed with her. Because she was a senior patient (7 years and older) and her last senior blood work and been done almost a year ago, we advised her mom that she was due to have her blood tested again so we took a little blood from Chewaca and sent it in to our lab to have some Senior Blood Testing run.
When we received the results, there were some abnormalities that made us suspicious that Chewaca could have a disorder called Cushing’s Disease. The first signs of Cushing’s are usually drinking and urinating more than usual, neither of which she was doing. Despite this, the blood work was pretty convincing, so we pursued more testing to confirm our suspicions. Sure enough, she DID have Cushing’s Disease! We did a few other tests to look for problems that Cushing’s Disease can cause, such as urinary infection and high blood pressure. Fortunately, she did not have either at this point. With Cushing’s Disease, we only treat if the pet is having complications from the disease. The great thing is, now that we know Chewaca has it, we know what to look for and will be able to treat her symptoms much sooner, increasing her quality of life!
So, why does your pet need to have bloodwork at least once a year? We want your pet live as long and as healthy a life as possible. We can do so by finding and preventing disease early on. Having your pet’s blood tested at least once a year is one of the easiest and best ways to do this. This helps us to find early signs of illness, just like we did with Chewaca, BEFORE your pet is showing signs of illness. Often, by the time a pet is showing signs of being sick, it is too late to treat them. Just as our doctors screen us for heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc to find things or prevent them before they become a bigger problem, our pets need and deserve the very same! Call to schedule to have your pet’s blood tested today!