jasper is due his booster an the vet as asked do i want a full health screening this includes total protine,albumin,globulin, urea creatinine, alp alt glucose,bilirubin ,cholestral,bile acid ck, phosphorus,calcium,sodium,pottassium & chlorides with haematology........this sounds like a good idea
Re: pet health screening I havent ever been offered this Lynne until Sam was due his booster . I dont have annual boosters apart from the Lepto which only lasts for about a year, just my personal choice . My Vets newish partner rang and said Sam was due , I replied that I would bring him in for the Lepto only, she said fine and did I want a health screen . Again its my personal choice but I declined , am just a little concerned that its a bit of a gimmick , if my dog is fit , active , has stamina, eats well, drinks well , not overweight etc . is alert and happy, then leave well alone , but of course its up to you Lynne , we all have a choice x
Re: pet health screening just got the letter today kate,........i will show it to mark when he gets home, see what he thinks,.....was just wondering had any one else had one, it is 90 pound
Re: pet health screening I'm with Kate on this one and would also say I'd be sceptical. If Jasper is outwardly fit, well and healthy, what veterinary need is there to run these screens? Or, to put it differently, when did you last feel so well that your GP suggested running a set of blood tests just to see if they could find something wrong with you??! I remember listening to someone recently talk about the comprehensive health checks offered to human patients with medical insurance - wish I could remember who she was, was obviously a medical professional - and her point was that if enough was tested, it would be possible to find an abnormality in every patient, and that these patients were then offered treatment for something that may never have presented as a problem at all. We all deviate from 'the norm' in some way, but actually that could well be normal for us... Exactly as Kate says though, it is a matter of personal choice as to whether you want to take it up or not, and there is the possibility it could flag up an early warning. Clare
Re: pet health screening being my first dog i just wondered was it normal practise to have screening,....i was be frightened to death of them finding any thing wrong with him
Re: pet health screening It is something that I might be more inclined to consider in an older animal, Lynne. With a well cared for, well exercised and well fed young dog like Jasper, I wouldn't expect anything to be wrong with him. But this is where the cynic in me says that the practice hope you will take up their offer, precisely to have that certainty and peace of mind... Ultimately, you have to do whatever you feel comfortable with Clare
Re: pet health screening The only time I had any screening done on a dog was when my old boy had an operation. We had blood tests done first to check his organ function. Other than that it is unusual, I think. Personally, for a young and healthy dog, I would decline.
Re: pet health screening i have spoke with mark, we are declining.......why fix what's not broken :-\
Re: pet health screening A £90 fee says it all not wanting to tar all vets with the same brush some are money driven . Our favoured vet at our vets practice has openly admitted that he has got into trouble in the past for been open and honest and not encouraging and giving people false hope and getting them to spend more money and has also had complaints from pet owners for his honesty . Mike
Re: pet health screening I personally would not bother, especially if a dog is in good health. Though if £90 is not big deal to you, then it might be interesting to look at the results
Re: pet health screening Our vet suggested screening Meg when she was a puppy and said it would help when she got older as blood tests could be compared to those taken when she a puppy. So we agreed. We now have different vets and had all Megs paperwork forwarded to them from our old vets. Meg has had numerous health problems since last September and I pointed out that we had a blood profile done when she was young and our vet said that it wouldn't help. At the time it seemed the right thing to do but I don't think I would do it again.
Re: pet health screening Had 3 attempts at commenting on this. Scrubbed them all. Targeted tests are helpful. Screening tests need to be proven to cause more good than harm. Harm includes waiting anxiously for results. I would take a "less is more" approach. I think you were right to say No, Lynne
Re: pet health screening I have never been offered this kind of screening and Hattie is 6 years old and Charlie is 3 years old. I hope it's not another way of some vets playing on our emotions where our dogs are concerned
Re: pet health screening i am going to wait until i have his booster in the next month and decide then, i will keep you posted,....i will be in a mess waiting for the results,.....where is our forum vet
Re: pet health screening [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=4268.msg51461#msg51461 date=1391264640] Had 3 attempts at commenting on this. Scrubbed them all. Targeted tests are helpful. Screening tests need to be proven to cause more good than harm. Harm includes waiting anxiously for results. I would take a "less is more" approach. I think you were right to say No, Lynne [/quote]
Re: pet health screening Aaah, all thumbs this evening... All I was going to say was that you phrased that reply brilliantly. ;D Clare
Re: pet health screening I think I might be a bit old-fashioned in this but I firmly believe that for young animals I am very confident that if I take a full history and do a full physical examination at the time of the annual booster and find the animal to be normal then it is very unlikely that anything significant will come up on routine blood testing. I don't do it for my own dogs and we don't routinely recommend it in our practice. Older animals are completely different of course and older cats in particular will benefit from routine annual blood tests and blood pressure evaluation.
Re: pet health screening [quote author=Lochan link=topic=4268.msg51573#msg51573 date=1391281904] I think I might be a bit old-fashioned in this but I firmly believe that for young animals I am very confident that if I take a full history and do a full physical examination at the time of the annual booster and find the animal to be normal then it is very unlikely that anything significant will come up on routine blood testing. I don't do it for my own dogs and we don't routinely recommend it in our practice. Older animals are completely different of course and older cats in particular will benefit from routine annual blood tests and blood pressure evaluation. [/quote] Your clients must be very happy to have you as their Vet Lochan This is exactly what our vet does at the time of the annual booster. I have a question, when do you consider a dog to be old? Hattie is 6 1/2 years old, so when would I think about blood tests etc.? Thanks Lochan for clearing that up for all of us. x
Re: pet health screening Hi Helen, the age at which we start thinking about health screening varies from breed to breed. Obviously many giant breeds are old at 6, whereas little terriers wouldn't be even middle aged then. Labradoodle 9-10, Lab x Pointer the same. I must admit that if an obviously healthy dog comes in at that age for a booster a quick urine dipstick test (costs pennies) is probably as useful as bloods, and even at 9-10 I probably wouldn't bother blood screening my dogs unless something had changed - slowing down, change in appetite, change in thirst, etc. By about 11-12 yo they may well start to benefit though. If they are due an anaesthetic I would check routine bloods from about 9yo. Cats are a bit different and benefit much more from routine screening tests. We will check cats from 10yo usually, a geriatric cat blood profile including thyroid function and blood pressure is very helpful and benefits many individuals. Hope this helps.
