What does quick pre-anesthesia bloodwork check for? Is it common?

In-house blood work is very expensive as we have to buy very expensive laboratory equipment, ie little diagnostic plates or rotors that can only be used once. So using in house labs is only useful when we need results right away. As your dog's surgery is next week there is enough time to send out the blood and receive a result in time for the surgery, and so have a less expensive way of doing bloodwork. Presurgical bloodwork is usually done in older animals as they could have some health conditions that make an anesthesia or surgery itself risky. By taking presurgical bloodwork we can evaluate liver and kidney function and other imbalances or problems with vital organs. It protects your dog as we can tailor the anesthesia to your dog.

It really depends on the exact blood work that is being done. If it is just a routine CBC and Chemistry profile then he probably doesn't need to be fasted. If the blood-work is being done the same day as the procedure then he should be fasted because of the procedure. You should probably call your vet for specific instructions. I am sure it is worrisome to put your dog under anesthesia but the benefits of cleaning the teeth and extracting the diseased teeth outweighs the risks of the anesthesia. As long as he is healthy, the risk is minimal.

There are a few tests that require testing but most do not. A basic panel of bloodwork just as a routine screening does not typically require fasting. If she needed to be fasted your vet probably would have let you know. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

That will depend on the lab offering the test. T4 checks thyroid function, Urinalysis (UA) checks for blood, white blood cells, specific gravity, bilirubin, glucose, protein, ketones, and urobilinogen, the results of all of these can tell whether kidneys, and liver are working properly and whether there may be a problem with your dog's metabolism. Here is information on the blood tests: https://www.petcoach.co/article/chemistry-panels-tests-for-pets/

It's definitely recommended to have a blood work done at her age before any procedure that requires anesthesia, it's absolutely fine to have it done the same day. the amount of blood drawn for the blood test is absolutely insignificant.

These are 3 different blood tests commonly performed to assess overall health. The CBC (complete blood count) assesses the red & white blood cells and platelets. A chemistry 24 evaluates overall organ function, measuring values of liver and kidney enzymes, blood glucose, electrolytes and blood proteins. There are several different thyroid tests, which measure different thyroid hormones. Always remember that any test results are interpreted in light of clinical exam findings and any clinical signs that Hobbs may be displaying at home.

I am so sorry to hear about your concern with Bellatrix. I do not believe there is any blood test that a normal veterinary clinic would be able to run in their clinic to test for sedatives. It is also possible that many sedatives that are used would have passed through the system already and would no longer be found. A veterinary college toxicology lab may be able to do testing but I suspect it would be quite expensive, especially if we do not have a specific drug we are testing for (there are many different drugs used to sedate dogs so without knowing which was used we would have to test for many different drugs).