Yearly blood work
 

Do y’all get yearly blood work on your dogs? Not just a test for heart worms or any tick illnesses but a blood count and stuff? My vet recommends it. Due to being tight on money from Callie’s lengthy illness I’m having to watch my spending and save where I can so I found a low cost clinic that does wellness blood work as well as the heart worm and tick illness test. I took the three youngest and had it done. It was a bit over an hour from my house but it was about $90 a dog vs the $200 my vet charges. Any way the vet was asking me if I was sure I wanted wellness blood work done and that she doesn’t usually worry about that until they get to 7 or 8 years old. My vet recommends it so we have a base line to look at if they end up getting sick. That is also what I learned in my classes. Just wondering what everyone else does. No judgment on using a lower cost place. I’m not going to let my dogs suffer or anything due to money and am fine if an emergency happens. I just thought this might be something to try. I will still be getting vaccines at my regular vet and everything. I did find out Ollie is a pound more then Joey even though he seems smaller. Neither is overweight but Joey was 14 pounds and Ollie 15! Penny is a pound over weight so we will be working on that and she was 16 pounds. Ollie did awesome and was not as nervous as normal. The heart worm test and tick illness test were done in house and everyone was negative. I really loved the staff and vet they were great! I wish I could open up one of those clinics near me! I didn’t take Callie because due to her health she gets blood tests several times a year.

Cody only gets blood work on his yearly check up and that's for heart-worm and lime disease. My vet never suggested blood work during the year but it sounds like a wise thing to do. We have a vet visit coming up this Sunday, I'll ask her about this.

Just an update both Penny and Ollie had great blood work! Joeys liver number was slightly low and his blood was clumpy so his platelet count was slightly off. She said it wasn’t anything she would be worried about. I’m still going to hopefully print the results and see what my regular vet things.

It kinda a peace of mind thing for me too.

I prefer to do it. If anything for peace of mind and like you said... to have a baseline.
We have a low cost clinic near my dads house on the Eastern Shore that I like a lot. I used to take Jackson there for basic things like rabies vaccine, other vaccines, etc, and wouldn't hesitate to go back for bloodwork if needed. To be honest he was neutered there before I knew "better" and all was good as well. :) They absolutely have their place and no judgment from me. I'd rather people be going to a low cost place than NO vet at all, too, ya know? But bloodwork/vaccines/etc aren't too complicated and I have no issue with going to one for that kind of stuff.

The only reason I’m big on taking the boys to my vet for their vaccines is because Joey reacts poorly to them so even if he has Benadryl and he starts acting sick they will still see him that day for free. The emergency vet when Ollie had his weird allergic reaction to something outside told me he would be more prone to allergic reactions from vaccines so same for him. Penny has no reactions neither does Callie so they would be fine anywhere really. Poor Joey is coming due for his rabies and it’s always so hard on him.

I also get a full blood panel done on Kinder. I think she had three done this year with a diarrhea thing we been going through. It gives me some piece of mind but spendy even though I have PetPlan . Susan

Going to a low cost place is a penny saved and a penny earned, nothing wrong with that at all. I do get an annual blood work for Emma. I don't pay $200 but around half that for the full work up.

Yes, Gidget gets her yearly visit to the Vet. If I forget to make an appointment, the Vet's office sends me a reminder.

If you give your baby heart worm protection year round and use a flea and tick prevention you cannot get a new yearly prescription without a blood test to ensure the baby does not have heart worms.

My vet only recommends blood work starting around age 5 yearly and between ages 7-9 every 6 months unless they have an underlying issue.

Thumper gets his multiple times year do to his issues. He also gets the senior panel which tests for more than the normal cbc panel.

The only reason I got Bella's this year was because of her dental later that month and she is going to be 5 in August so the vet said it was up to me. My insurance will pay for the blood work so I opted for it. If you are tight on money I would forgo the blood work unless you feel something is wrong.