Q: My vet asked me if I wanted a Wellness Test for my dog when he was last in for his Heartworm Test. What is this, and is it important?
A: Wellness Tests are blood and urine tests that are run on your pet when it is well, rather that when it is sick. I think Wellness Testing is a great idea, and highly recommend it when your dog and cat come in for their annual exam, or for dogs at the time of their Heartworm Test (since we’re drawing blood anyway).
What is the purpose of Wellness Testing?
1. To diagnose disease early, before the animal is showing any signs of illness. Fluffy and Fido cannot talk, so they cannot tell us when they are not feeling well. A human can tell their parent or partner: "I have been feeling listless lately" or "I am nauseous today" or "I have been experiencing a tight feeling in my chest for the past few weeks". Dogs and cats cannot.
Also, animals are programmed to hide signs of disease. In the wild, sick animals are considered an easy meal and singled out by predators. They therefore know by instinct that it is not wise to make it obvious if they are unwell. They will also usually continue to eat, since they risk starvation otherwise. Humans are predators, so it is okay if we show we are sick. But, by the time an animal is showing signs of illness, the disease is far more advanced than it is in a person showing similar symptoms.
Sometimes pet owners decline Wellness Testing because they think if their pet looks healthy, it probably is okay and does not need testing. One of my staff veterinarians, who is an excellent clinician and has been practicing even longer than I have, just found out her cat has Hyperthyroidism, based on his recent Wellness Test. She’s a vet and she did not know he was sick! How can the average pet owner know when a doctor cannot even tell? In the early stages of many conditions, we cannot and neither can you!
A dog or cat can hide signs of illness early on, but they cannot alter their blood and urine test results.
2. To establish a baseline. If we know the "normal" value for your pet when it is well, we can interpret tests results better when it is not well.
For example, the reference range for creatinine, a kidney test, is approximately 50-200. A normal creatinine for Molson might be 60; for Buddy it may be 180. If Buddy has a creatinine of 190 when he is sick, I can rule out kidney disease as a cause of his illness. However, a level of 190 for Molson is more than 3 times his normal results, and is likely indicative of early kidney disease. If I did not know that Molson’s creatinine is 60 when he is well, I would probably miss the diagnosis, because a value of 190 is within the reference range of 50-200.
3. To look at trends. Our physicians do this when they check our blood pressure or our cholesterol tests every year. They too are screening for early disease, but also looking at trends over time. An annual Wellness Test on a pet allows us to do this too.
To use the example of creatinine, let's say that Fluffy has had the following creatinine levels: 60 in 2001 at age 4, 80 in 2002, 75 in 2003, 80 in 2004 at age 7, 120 in 2005, 150 in 2006 and 170 in 2007 at age 10. The trend shows that a kidney problem is coming down the pipe, and that we had better take action even before her creatinine is increased over the “high normal” value of 200.
I will first put Fluffy on a prescription kidney diet. Yes, early on, it can be as simple as a change in diet. Compare that to the treatment of advanced kidney disease, treatment that includes intravenous fluids and many days in the hospital. I will continue to monitor Fluffy; and if her kidney tests continue to rise, I can also put her on medication to further slow the progression of her disease. Because she had Wellness Testing, she may very well live out her normal life span of 18 years, rather than die of renal failure at age 12.
It makes sense that if we detect a disease while still in the early stages, the prognosis is much better than it is once the condition is advanced. It is also usually far less expensive to treat something early than when the pet is very sick. Wellness Testing is a win-win-win situation. The animal wins because it will live longer, the veterinarian wins because Wellness Testing helps us save lives, and you, the pet owner, win because you get to enjoy your pet for a long, long time.
by: Louise Langlais-Burgess, D.V.M.
Hespeler Animal Hospital
210 Pinebush Road, Cambridge, ON
Tel.: (519) 740-7706
