Anaesthetic Blood Tests

Before your pet undergoes a general anaesthetic, we recommend that they have their blood collected for a blood test profile. This can be done on the morning of the procedure. The parameters of the profile is case-dependent, as we select the appropriate tests to suit each particular health situation.

Some health conditions are not immediately apparent in the early stages of disease. This can often be picked up by running certain blood tests and allows us to commence immediate intervention so that your pet can enjoy a longer and healthier life with you.

The most commonly run tests are described here as we explain what information we gather from them and why we recommend performing these tests:

Haematology Panel

The haematology panel gives us the reading for the red and white blood cells and platelets. Increases or decreases in these counts inform us whether your pet is dehydrated, has anaemia, infection or inflammation. In some cases, the severity of the count determines whether or not we proceed with an anaesthetic procedure.

Blood Clotting Time Test

We normally run this test in our female cat and dog desexing blood panel. As we need to access and tie off large blood vessels in the abdominal cavity, this information is useful to inform us whether your pet will require additional support to stem any excessive bleeding that may occur.

Biochemistry Panel

The biochemistry panel assesses your pet’s kidney and liver health. These organs are responsible for processing and eliminating anaesthetic drugs, pain medications and antibiotics. Information from this blood panel allows your veterinarian to calculate and plan the appropriate drugs and doses for your pet to ensure that they experience the safest anaesthetic possible. In some cases, we may need to delay the anaesthetic procedure to first address any pressing problems that are picked up by this test.