When should my senior dog get blood work? My 9-year-old needs it?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Max. I do recommend blood work and urine testing on a regular basis. I typically start testing to obtain baseline values around 2 to 3 years of age. It is good to test every year or every other year while the pet is young. Then I start annual testing or every 6 months when the pet is a senior. This age can vary a bit between pets, but typically start around 7-8 years of age. I recommend fecal testing every year as intestinal parasites can be spread to people. I hope this information helps!

If he is generally well then bloodwork every couple of years to record a normal level for him and to identify any changes is sufficient. From age 6-7years on then yearly testing can be helpful for early intervention

Bloodwork is typically done around 6 months of age before anesthesia for a spay or neuter. There is no set time that it should be done. Typically, if a dog is ill or requires sedation/anesthesia, then bloodwork is done to diagnose or to make sure the pet can undergo anesthesia. Some owners choose to have bloodwork done yearly as part of the physical exam. If Bruno has never had bloodwork, you can have your vet do it if only to obtain a healthy/normal baseline for comparison in case Bruno ever gets sick.

Actually this is true in the case of kidneys. It take up to 75% of the nephrons to fail in kidneys before symptoms are seen of kidney disease. It's always good to have blood work done on any dog, even healthy ones. Because our dogs cannot tell us if they are feeling sick or not, these tests are needed to make sure everything is healthy. In addition, many dogs will show no sign of illness until they are extremely sick. You can't know for sure if your dog is healthy without these tests, so if your vet is recommending doing the blood work, I suggest going along with your vet's recommendation.

Lady should have a physical exam at least once a year regardless of her age because pets age much faster than humans. Geriatric pets should get an exam every 6 months and bloodwork at least once a year. Small breed dogs are considered geriatric at 9 years old. At that time, she should definitely have an exam and a discussion about different foods, exercise recommendations, bloodwork...etc. Good job on thinking proactively! I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Jimmy. Yes, I do recommend regular bloodwork on cats. They are very good at hiding signs of illness. They are prone to thyroid disorders, kidney disease and diabetes they age. Bloodwork can catch these abnormalities early and allow treatment to be started. I hope this information helps!

Great question! Yes, I would recommend having the blood test done on Blazer. Even though you are aware of the side effects, there could still be effects on her organs from the medication that are not seen symptomatically. It's very important to have her organ function checked to make sure there hasn't been any damage done to her organs from the medication.