Well, it's that time of year again for my Senior Dog and that means we are ready to review the results of his blood work. As promised earlier in the year, I said when the time came I would write a post titled: How much does a full blood panel cost and today is the day I share my results with the public. So, in this article you will learn exactly what I paid for my Senior Dog's blood panel here in Western NY. Then you'll see his results exactly as delivered by the lab. Now in order for this post to benefit dog owners around the nation, it would really help if you commented on what you recently paid for a blood panel and remember to mention where you're from. Here we go... How Much is Blood Word for a Dog The cost of dog bloodwork ranges from $170 - $190 in my area. My dog is a 12.5 Year Old Senior Dog with severe arthritis and he's getting blood work every 6-8 months. That's because his liver and thyroid have to be monitored due to certain medications. Keep in mind, that's a full blood panel. Many times you can test just a few things for much less. Senior Dog Blood Panel Cost with Pictures (Actual Report) Dog Complete Blood Panel Actual Cost: $180 Date Performed: September, 2019 My Geographic Region: Western, NY What's Included in the Dog Blood Work Cost? For $180 My Vet's Complete Blood Panel is called a "Senior Wellness Screening." It tested just shy of 50 important values that help identify early indications of organ failure, disease or other issues that could be impacting our dog's well-being. You'll see screenshots in a moment. This $180 blood panel also included a free-catch urinalysis. Free-catch meaning: they followed my dog outside and stuck a ladle in his urine stream while he peed. I'll share those results too in the next section. Sample Blood Panel Report - What's Included in a Dog Blood Panel? The next screenshots are the actual results of my dog's blood sample. I ALWAYS recommend asking your vet's office to email you the results so you have them for your home file and in your email (which can be accessed from your smart phone). This is something most dog owners learn once we've made a trip to the ER after hours. The Dr's will always ask for your dog's recent blood test and if it's in your email, you can pull it up on your phone. My Dog's Complete Blood Panel: Screen Shot Pictures Click Pics to Enlarge Lab Report Senior Dog Blood Panel Page 1 Page 2 of dog blood panel example results Senior Dog Blood Panel Example (Page 2) Page 3 of my Dog's complete Blood Panel Lab Report Continued - Senior Dog Complete Blood Panel September 2019 Finally - Here is my dog's Urinalysis Lab Report. Your Blood Panel may or may not include a urinalysis...just ask your vet. Senior Dog Urinalysis (may be part of blood panel) Reviewing Blood Lab Panel Results with Your Vet In most cases, you will not have results until the next day or even a week later depending on whether or not lab results are in-house or will be sent to an outside lab. Your vet might say something like "I'll give you a call once we have the results" and this can seem like a very long wait. Whether your dog's blood is tested in-house or sent out, you should get a report (similar to my lab report) that shows what value is being tested and a graph or bar range that shows where your dog's results fall: Low Range/Acceptable Range/High Range. If this will be your first time ever getting a blood panel on your dog, here are some tips that will help facilitate a better phone call with your vet: Tips for Reviewing your Dog's Blood Work 1-The day your dog's blood is drawn, ask the vet or office manager to send the lab results to your email prior to the vet's follow up call. Tell them you'd like to be able to gather any questions in order to make the call go faster and you'd like to be able to follow along on the call. 2-Review your dog's blood work results before the Dr. Calls. Write down any results that are outside of normal ranges or even borderline results. Have your questions ready, just in case your vet doesn't address something that concerns you. For instance, my vet pointed out that the higher phosphorus was typical for my dog because his osteoarthritis is so severe and he also has thyroid issues. Both would contribute to a higher phosphorus value. But...my vet didn't mention my dog's higher Reticulocyte Hemoglobin, which I found very concerning and asked questions. Turns out, due to my dog's age, severity of arthritis and new water therapy, she was not at all surprised to see a slightly high value and assured me it was quite normal for what he is going through. Overall, I'm happy and to be honest, relieved, with my dog's blood results and it keeps me motivated. I'm working my butt off researching products that keep my 90 pound, arthritic, senior dog healthy, comfortable and of most of all MOBILE. Because the one thing we owners with large breed dogs cannot do is: carry them around. What's Next? Now this test becomes the new basis for the next test in 6 months. Hopefully, everything stays as good as can be expected and maybe even improved! I'll be sure to post again so we can see the comparison. Summary I hope this article helps you understand what a complete blood panel costs for a dog and an estimate of what you might expect to pay for a complete blood panel. Please, if you've performed a complete blood panel recently for your dog, let us know in the comment section what you paid and where you're from. Thanks for visiting SeniorDogDays!
