Senior Screening Bundle – What is it?
The senior screening bundle is used to test for early-stage health concerns. The bundle consists of collecting blood and urine samples from your senior pet that evaluates a total of 57 parameters. The results provide insight on your pet’s overall health and can be used to detect early signs of common health concerns, conditions, or diseases before they become symptomatic or advanced You also have the option to include a screening ultrasound that allows your veterinarian to visibly assess the structures of your pet’s major organs.
Read on to learn more about the different types of tests that are included in the senior screening bundle:
- Complete Blood Count (CBC): This is an evaluation of your pet’s whole blood. It measures their red blood cells, white blood cells, concentration of specific cells as well as platelets. This gives us insight into their overall health to ensure they have the proper number of cells as too many or too little of certain ones can be a serious health risk!
- Comprehensive Screening Panel: This is a panel we run in house on the serum from your pet’s blood. It gives us a whole picture regarding your pet’s health as it tells us about internal organ functions like their liver and kidneys.
- Electrolytes: This is just what it sounds like! We evaluate specific electrolytes within your pets’ blood to ensure they do not have an imbalance. This is not only critical when a pet is sick but also to those who appear normal, as some conditions are actually caught early with an imbalance of their electrolytes.
- T4: This is a measurement thyroid. Sometimes as our pets age, their thyroid can produce too much or too little hormone, causing hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. These conditions can show in MANY different ways, like weight gain, weight loss, heat seeking, low h, low heart rate, high heart rate, and much more! This is why we want to check your pet’s blood, as the clinical signs/symptoms can vary so much from one pet to another.
- SDMA: This is a specialized test for kidney function that allows us to detect kidney disease much earlier than with standard blood work.
- Urinalysis: Just like when we get our urine checked at the doctor this checks a number of different things to ensure your pet has a healthy urinary system. Not only does it check if your pet has a urinary infection, it also checks to ensure your pet is able to concentrate their urine properly, does not have a development of crystals, PH of the urine or abnormal cells within the urine that could indicate disease.
- Ultrasound Exam (optional add-on): The ultrasound aspect of the screening bundle involves one of our trained veterinarians performing a general ultrasound exam of the abdomen. Internal organs are assessed for size, shape, location as well as abnormalities such as tumors or fluid accumulation.
The key takeaway from senior screening bundles is that early detection through screening is a vital step to providing your pet with improved quality and longevity of life. Moreover, preventative and proactive steps towards your pet’s health are generally much more cost-effective than reactive treatments to health concerns that have been developing undetected, which leaves more room for treats!
If you have any questions about this screening bundle or want to learn more, feel free to reach out to one of our veterinary team members!
