07/08/2026
The importance of yearly bloodwork for senior dogs:
Archie is an 8 year old husky poodle mix who is known as a happy, energetic and healthy dog. Archie’s owner has done yearly senior panels since he was 6 years old, just to keep on top of things and know how he’s doing internally. His yearly panels have always looked great, but this year, he had an elevated liver number. Due to this, Dr Brock decided it would be best to start Archie on a liver supplement, Vitamin E, and a diet change. We believed the cause of this elevated liver number was due to him having a bit of a sensitive stomach throughout life, as the liver can catch some of this GI irritation. The plan was to recheck his liver numbers 6 weeks after his given treatment plan. Fast forward 6 weeks, and his liver numbers returned to normal! Archie then went back to his normal diet, and got off his liver supplements and vitamins, and was planned to get another recheck of his liver numbers in 4 weeks, to see if they would remain in the normal limit. 4 weeks later, his liver numbers again look normal! Archie is a great example on how beneficial yearly bloodwork can be. Archie was completely asymptomatic, the mild elevation in his liver values allowed us to intervene early and easily manage his liver inflammation before it became more critical.
