Dog Lab Work - FAQs 1
Hannah Grant, DVM
Brunswick Veterinary Hospital
Dr. Grant, how is blood drawn from my dog?
Very similar to how blood is drawn in humans, we actually take a needle and get a sample directly from their veins in one of their four legs. This commonly gives us the sample that we need, and it's very non-invasive for most of our canine patients.
Is the sample collection painful for my dog?
It's no more painful than when we have our own blood drawn because we do actually get poked with a needle to get the sample. But once we have the sample, there's no long-lasting pain in most of our patients.
How is the safety of my dog ensured when getting lab work done?
The safety of our patients is first and foremost in all of our minds. We have highly trained staff who are experienced in gently but safely restraining our patients to ensure that there are no accidents when we're collecting samples.
How soon will I receive my dog's lab results?
How soon you receive results really depends on the type of test that we're running. There are many different types of tests, including some in-house laboratory tests that we might get back the same day, versus some lab tests that we might send out for review to a pathologist, which sometimes can take a few days or even a couple of weeks to get results back on.
Does my senior dog really need lab work done?
I highly recommend that all senior patients get at least routine lab work done. The reason is that our older patients are predisposed to lots of diseases like chronic kidney disease, diabetes, or any types of cancer, too. By having routine lab work done on our senior patients, it allows us for early detection and early intervention of diseases that can develop.
Will my dog need more than one type of lab test?
It depends on what we see with that individual patient. There are some patients where we might see some more concerning signs that might indicate that maybe we go a little bit more above and beyond than we would in a routine lab test or exam.
Will follow-up lab work need to be done on my dog?
Follow-up lab work depends on what we find with the labs that we've done already. Sometimes, in perfectly healthy patients, as long as they're doing well, we'll recheck their lab work annually to make sure that everything still looks good at each annual wellness exam. There are some patients, however, where we might find new or ongoing illnesses that we might want to recheck every couple of months or every several weeks, if need be.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (518) 279-0700, or you can email us at [email protected]. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can. Don't forget to follow us on social media Facebook, Instagram