[jlhajmom]

Ava Jane will be 4 years old in August. She had a shaky start in life; she had a liver shunt which required surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Since then (2008) she has been doing super. She has a great appetite, loves to play, and is very energetic. I took her in for her physical, and everything was fine except when they ran the CBC, her red blood cell count was slightly elevated. The vet told me not to panic; we would re-run it in a few days because she could have been slightly dehydrated when they took her blood (she had been panting because she was so nervous being at the vet, plus it was 100 degrees outside and that didn't help). Last night I took her for the test; my regular vet was not there, a much younger one was. A tech took the blood. When they first ran the count, the results came out that she had absolutely no red blood cells, and other numers were off the chart high. They looked at her blood under the microscope and said it looked normal, so they re-ran the blood. The second time they ran it, it came back that her RBC was so low, according to the paper she would be anemic. Other numbers were all out of whack - some low, some high. Ava is not showing signs of anything being wrong at all. Could this be a major error with whomever was running the test? My regular vet should call me on Monday to discuss, but if this has happened to anyone else, I sure would appreciate some advice.

Ava Jane is also at a healthy weight: 7.5 pounds and she has not lost any weight recently.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[momtoboo]

BUMPing this up. I don't have any knowledge on your babys bloodwork, but hopefully someone else will. I hope it's nothing serious & Ave Jane is fine.

 

[jmm]

What is a traumatic stick? Where did they get the blood from? Did they spin hematocrit tubes to verify?
In house veterinary CBC machines are not always terribly accurate (some brands perform better than others). I would want a good stick and send it to an outside lab and do a hematocrit/total protein in house. If your dog truly is that anemic she needs to be worked up now. I'm really surprised they didn't send the blood out to recheck the results already.

 

[Snowbody]

I'd insist on another sample and sending it out. A friend of mine got back bloodwork on herself and it had an absurd number -- like it should be 2-3 (whatever the test was for) and it was 150! :w00t::w00t:She had been fine and was just getting a routine exam. She went to another lab and they took blood and got it back and it was a 2. So when in doubt get it rechecked.

 

[dr.jaimie]

when we get something off like that we recheck with a PCV/TP...i would think they have that capability...are her gums pink or white?

 

[linfran]

It sounds like the analyzer has a problem and not the dog. They should spin a hematocrit and then they will know whether she is anemic or not.
Best Wishes, Linda

 

[plenty pets 20]

Having worked in a lab at a hospital, I would say the test is off. If your dog had NO red blood cells, she wouldnt be alive. If she was that anemic she should also be acting very tired. I would check her gums to see if they are pink. I would not go back to that clinic to be tested, but to your own vet.
If you draw the blood incorrectly and get hemolysis it will throw the tests off too.