How can an Early Detection Panel Help my Pet?

posted: Fri Sep 10 19:01:46 EDT 2021 by: Tammy Chastain DVM Tags: "Clinic Specials" "News" 

At the beginning of 2021 Alexandria Animal Hospital started offering an exciting option for each pet that comes in for their annual wellness visit.  In addition to a thorough physical exam and immunizations, we can now provide testing to get an "internal picture," if you will, of your pet's health.  An early detection panel is a lab profile that is tailored to your pet's species and age.  It includes an annual fecal parasite exam and heartworm test (for dogs), but also analyzes a number of other values on a blood and/or urine specimen that give us insight into your pet's internal organ health and function.  Liver and kidney values, blood cell counts, thyroid function, and cardiac markers are just a few pieces of information that are provided in some of these panels.

Results from this labwork can give us a baseline of comparison for important values while your pet is healthy, in the event he or she becomes ill down the road.  It is also a valuable aide in detecting disease conditions early on, where it might be more advantageous to your pet to intervene.  This is especially helpful in cats, who tend to be innately wired to hide disease until it has progressed to more advanced stages.  In addition, laboratory values such as the ones found on an early detection panel can be helpful in medication and treatment planning for disease conditions such as arthritis or anesthetic planning for a surgical procedure..

If you are interested in having an early detection panel performed at your pet's next annual wellness exam, please reach out to one of our team members.  We would be happy to answer any questions you might have!