It's very common in cases of illness for a Veterinarian to order a CBC, Chemistry Panel and a urinalysis as the baseline laboratory tests to help make a diagnosis. These three tests taken together can tell us a great deal about a pet's health and about the fucntion or organs like the liver, kidney, pancreas and others.

In the case of the urinalysis it's critical to evaluate these results along with the results of the CBC and the chemistry profile. Taken together, the results can narrow the list of possible causes of disease.

Today we'll cover the specifics of the urinalysis.

Continue Reading "Veterinary Urinalysis" »

Pets can sometimes be reservoirs of diseases that infect humans. Most viruses and organisms that cause illness are species specific, or specially adapted to the host they infect. When a disease is able to make the leap from our pet to us, it is referred to as zoonotic.

The most important historical zoonotic disease is the Plague that ravaged Europe in the 1300’s killing tens of millions of people. Primarily a disease of rats and wild rodents, the Plague is transmitted from animal to animal by the bites of infected fleas, with humans as the accidental host when the rat dies and the fleas look for a warmer host.

Today, the number of potential zoonotic diseases is impressive. Let’s look at some of the more common dog and cat diseases that may pose a threat to humans.

Continue Reading "Healthy Pets, Healthy People" »

The last couple of posts we've discussed the Complete Blood Count and what it can tell us about the health of our pets. The CBC is often accompanied by more specific tests that reveal information about the function of specific organs within the body. Coupled with urine tests, that we'll cover on Friday, blood chemistry, or serum chemistry tests, can help pinpoint which organ or organs are involved in illness.

Blood chemistry tests are sometimes referred to as chemistry panels or chem panels and the number of tests on a given panel can vary. Generally we start out with screening tests and get more specific as we zero in on a specific organ system. 

Some of the more common tests include the following.

Continue Reading "Lab Tests Explained; Blood Chemistry Panels" »

Last post we introduced the most common "blood" test; the CBC, or complete blood count. We focused on the analysis of red blood cells in the first post and today we'll cover the white blood cells (WBC"S).

White blood cells, or leukocytes, come from the lymph nodes and bone marrow. These cells are important components of our disease fighting immune system. There are five different types of white blood cells including neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils.

The absolute number and the proportion of each cell type and even the stage of maturity of the cells can tell us a great deal about the state of a pet's health and how the body is responding to a potential disease process.

Continue Reading "The Complete Blood Count Continued; White Blood Cells" »

I get quite a few questions about all the lab tests that are done by Veterinarians. What are they for and what do they tell us are the most frequently asked questions from pet owners.

Over the next couple of posts I'll jump in on this topic and try to explain some of the more common tests.

Most of these tests involve blood and urine and they are very similar to the same types of tests your physician orders for you when you are ill.

So why do Vets order these tests in the first place?

Continue Reading "What's Up with All Those Blood Tests?" »

Medical procedures that were once limited to humans have become available for our four-legged friends as well. Advances in animal neurology, dentistry, imaging, surgery and rehabilitation have given veterinarians the opportunity to provide our pets with the same kind of medical services that are available to humans. Veterinarians are able to provide the highest level of care and treatment that is humanly possible using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computerized Tomography (CT), ultrasound, laser surgery, stem cell therapy, endoscopy (a technique for viewing internal organs with a fiber optic scope) and echocardiography (specialized form of ultrasound to view the heart).

Continue Reading "Where Will Veterinary Medicine Go in 2012?" »

And that's a good thing if youv'e been following the latest research on body fat. If you read the post from Monday you know that brown fat is in the news.

We left off in that post thinking about ways that the body might activate brown fat and trigger all the health benefits that would entail. Well, the latest research on the subject confirms that exercise and a hormone released in response to exercise, might do just that.

Continue Reading "Exercise Can Turn White Fat Brown" »

I have finally decided that it is time. Marleigh is going to school.

The days of arm socket dislodging, pillow destroying, food spreading and midnight bark-a-thons will soon be over. Six weeks from Wednesday, I will be the proud parent of a masterfully trained dog who is astonishingly obedient.

Am I excited? Of course. Am I nervous? Absolutely.

Maizie was a dream student. She was attentive, wanted to learn, gave me undivided attention and was the superstar of the class. I have absolutely no idea what to expect from Marleigh. Not a clue.

All I know is I am going to prepare for anything...and everything.

-- Chloe Ochse --

That's a lot of fat in one blog post title, but fat is in the news again and this time it's encouraging news. Encouraging if you are interested in the effect of fat on health, both ours and our pets.

Obesity and type II diabetes are big concerns for dogs, cats and their people and there's new research on the subject of body fat type and the effect exercise has on the composition of body fat.

Before we get into that, let's go back a couple of years and re-examine the roles of both types of body fat. We'll cover the new research on Wednesday.

Continue Reading "Good Fat, Bad Fat, Brown Fat, White Fat" »

Happy Friday the 13th, to all you triskaidekaphobes. As most of you know, I read the NY Times online most days, at least until I use up my twenty free articles a month.

As an aside, if you have two browsers on your computer you can read twenty articles on both; ha-ha pay per view sites.

Anyway, I found what I thought would be another interesting article on dogs. It was one of the most viewed articles on the site earlier this week and it dealt with a popular topic. Entitlied "Reading Body Language, Dogs are Like Infants", it promised to be interesting.

I was a little dissapointed in the article and the study itself. This may be news to researchers, but this is something dog owners already know.

Our dogs pay attention to us.

Continue Reading "That Guilty Look in Dogs" »