Biochemistry blood test measures the levels of chemical substances carried in the blood. This type of test allows us to evaluate the how well the liver and kidneys are working and how much fat and sugar is circulating in the bloodstream.
Blood Glucose
When carbohydrates are eaten they are broken down and stored in the Liver as Glycogen until the animal needs energy where it is then converted to glucose and transported around the body. We use blood glucose as a monitor of metabolism and physiology.
Normal BG (Canine) - 5.6 to 13.9mmol/L
Normal BG (Feline) - 5.6 to 16.7mmol/L
INCREASED BG - Diabetes Mellitus is indicated however it is recommended that the urine is also checked for Glucose as if present this means the kidneys have reached their threshold and Diabetes is very likely. Note that cats can have stress induced hyperglycemia and so a diagnosis of diabetes should not be made on a single BG reading.
DECREASED BG - Patients that are sick and deliberated often have hypoglycemia. but puppies who have been starved for procedures can also suffer from a low BG. In addition to this hunting breeds that have been working hard for a prolonged time can also suffer from a low BG.
Bun Urea Nitrogen (BUN)
BUN is the by product produced when Proteins are broken down and used within the body. This by-product is excreted by the Kidneys in the urine.
INCREASED BUN - This would mean the kidneys are not working sufficiently and could be an indicator of kidney disease or kidney obstruction that is preventing urine reaching the bladder and therefore build up in the Kidney. Heart disease causing poor circulation to the kidneys could also be a cause of increased BUN.
DECREASED BUN - As the liver breaks down Protein a lower level of BUN could indicate that the liver is not working as well as it should and isn’t breaking down protein as well as it should.
Creatinine (CREA)
Creatinine is solely filtered out of the blood by the kidneys.
INCREASED CREA - Impaired Kidney function
Calcium (CAL)
Calcium is a mineral that is found at a consistent level within the blood. It’s needed for muscle and nerve function and without it death can occur.
INCREASED CAL - Some types of cancers and medications can cause an increase in Calcium.
DECREASED CAL - Some animals can experience low calcium levels during pregnancy, post partum and during lactation. This condition is called Eclampsia.
Total Protein (TP)
The measurement of two blood protein molecules: Albumin and Globulins. Albumin is produced by the Liver and levels are often decreased when the animal is going through a period of poor nutrition. Chronic infectious disease will also cause low Albumin levels.
Globulins include immunoglobulins which are used by the body to fight infection. Certain diseases such as FIP can cause an increase in this.
Bilirubin (BIL)
Haemoglobin is found inside red blood cells, it carries oxygen to tissues around the body. When RBC’s die or are destroyed and the haemoglobin is broken down, bilirubin is a by product of this process which is then excreted by the Liver.
INCREASED BIL - An increase can be seen when the Liver is diseased and is can’t clear the bilirubin efficiently. A liver or bile duct obstruction can cause bilirubin to build up thus resulting in high levels in the blood so this should also be considered.
Alkaline Phophatese (ALKP)
This is an enzyme used to assist with various chemical reactions within the body. The normal levels vary from animal to animal but in dogs, an increase could indicate some forms of cancer or Liver disease.
Atanine Amino Transferase (ALT)
This is an important enzyme for adequate Liver function. An increase in this enzyme would indicate that Liver cells are breaking down, this could be because of cancer, cirrhosis, or liver congestion due to heart failure.
Cholesterol (CHOL)
INCREASE CHOL - Inadequate Thyroid function
DECREASE CHOL - The animal has been through a period of starvation or is not having their nutritional requirements met.
SODIUM: POTASSIUM RATIO
These levels are almost always interpreted together. Their levels can be affected if there is a disease of the adrenal glands, heart, or kidneys.
PETA: They’d rather spend their money on publicity campaigns than on the animals in their care. PETA killed 73.8% of the animals in their care in 2015 (x)
FCKH8: Is a for-profit company that exploits oppressed groups for money. They’re also wildly uninformed, and spread misogyny, cissexism and bi/panphobia, as well as stealing their posts/designs (x)
Autism Speaks: They spend most of their money on researching a way to eliminate autism, heighten the stigma against autism and don’t have a single autistic person on their board (x)
Please support other, better charities, and feel free to add any others you can think of to this.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure: CEO makes insane amounts of money, they deny a lot of requests for wigs/help with treatment/etc., and have attempted to sue other charities that use the color pink as part of their anti-breast cancer campaign. ( xxx )
The Salvation Army: They promote the hatred of LGBT+ people, work with fundamentalist Christian groups to support conservative politics and rip off and exploit workers. ( xxx )
Wounded Warrior: They take money that should be spent on veterans and blow it on huge opulent parties for the company bigwigs. 26 million in 2014 alone wasted! ( xxx)
^ Important reminder to NOT waste any money donating to these groups
Reblogging because of the added info about Wounded Warrior.
Imho the idea of ‘cruelty free’ products or food shouldn’t mean that nothing died to create it, but rather that anything and anyone involved in the creation process hasn’t been exploited or harmed.
Leather is good actually. Veganism isn’t the end all be all to morality and consumption. The issue isn’t that a chicken died for those nuggets, but that while the chicken was alive, it’s life fucking sucked. Vegan chocolate means little if the cocoa that made it was gathered by child slave labor.
Factory farms, abuses of the people who pick the fruit and vegetables we eat, the focus profit and productivity over all else - that’s the fucking issue here. It’s capitalism folks.
Animal rights stuff is all like “pigs are smart and curious and have personalities” and bypasses the fact that pigs will eat you without question or hesitation if given the opportunity
Oh yes this
If you’re mad about this post maybe try chilling
Imagine interpreting this post as “hehe fuck pigs make em suffer” instead of “if pigs could talk they would wholeheartedly disagree that eating anything is wrong”
There is no such thing as “too big” of a tank or enclosure for any animal. Period. Even if they “don’t do anything”. There is no such thing as “wasted space”. Giving your animal space they may not use is only a waste to you, not them. We’re keeping animals that would literally have free run of the wild. Giving them the choice to use as much space as they want is the absolute best that we can do for them. Is it the worst thing in the world if you can only give them the minimum? No. If they’re still thriving in the minimum, that’s OK, but we should, as pet owners, ALWAYS be striving to do better. If you can’t upgrade from the minimum tank or enclosure, upgrade what’s in it. If you think your pet is doing great, but someone tells you “hey, I think they’d do a lot better/be a lot more active in this size”, don’t get defensive. Look into it. Question your own pet care. Consider whether or not you actually ARE doing the best for them. The worst that’ll happen is you’ll realize that you do, in fact, need to do better, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as you actually TRY to do better, which is something that we, as pet owners, should ALWAYS be trying to do.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, is thought to be the first to examine homemade recipes for healthy adult cats. Researchers evaluated 114 recipes from online sources and books, written by nonveterinarians and veterinarians. Forty percent of the recipes did not provide any feeding instructions, and the remainder of them lacked detail or were unclear.
“Only 94 recipes provided enough information for computer nutritional analysis and of those none of them provided all the essential nutrients to meet the National Research Council’s recommended allowances for adult cats,” said lead author Jennifer Larsen, a veterinary nutritionist with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Recipes lacked nutrients regardless of the source or whether they were written by veterinarians, although those authored by veterinarians had fewer deficiencies in essential nutrients. Most recipes were lacking concentrations of three or more nutrients, with some lacking adequate amounts of up to 19 essential nutrients. Furthermore, many recipes had severe deficiencies, providing less than 50 percent of the recommend allowances of several essential nutrients including choline, iron, zinc, thiamin, vitamin E and manganese…
Seven percent of the recipes called for ingredients that are potentially toxic to cats, including garlic or garlic powder, onions and leeks. Researchers also found recipes that called for raw animal products without mentioning potential risks of bacterial contamination. Some recipes that included bones neglected to mention the importance of grinding them to prevent gastrointestinal tears….
“Homemade diets are not necessarily better,” said Larsen. “If you are going to use one, you have to make sure you do it safely and they should be balanced and appropriate for your individual cat.”
Larsen said cat owners should not be afraid of commercial diets, but recommends cat owners who desire a homemade diet consult with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist. They specialize in formulating homemade diets for pets. (FULL ARTICLE)
Hello. You haven’t heard from me much as I’ve been extremely busy. I’m asking for help.
I have a new rescue cat that needs help. He has entropion. It refers to the inversion of an eyelid margin, resulting in trichiasis (hair rubbing against the cornea). He needs medical help to fix the problem. The surgery is about $1,200 to fix it. They advised me to just euthanize him in his current state unless I can do the surgery. I’ve already paid to get him vaccinated and neutered. He is only one of the many animals I take in and care for in order to find them a loving home. You’re not obligated to help but every dollar helps. If you would like to help, I’ve started a pool @ https://paypal.me/pools/c/8oKlegonfK for donations. Or you can donate directly to my PayPal @ [email protected]
Pictured below are some of my current rescued critters and old man himself. He was a stray and has clearly had a hard life. He’s the orange tabby in the large dog cage (right after he got neutered) and on a cushion. I haven’t named him, I’m not sure if he’ll be alive to know a name.
Thank you so much for reading this post. If you can’t donate, please share it around. I need help caring for these lost souls.
Scenes on the farm: most of the goats, a buckeye chicken with an overgrown beak before I clipped it, and Papa’s hair getting long! c:
July 25, 2017
How old is that chicken? Sensory nerves grow in a few weeks after hatching, beak clipping after that should be really painful :/
This chicken is three months old and this is an overgrowth which is fine (and necesarry) to cut. Chicken beaks continually grow and are worn down through use. If you watch chickens, they wipe their beaks on hard surfaces and file them. Occasionally beaks will out of control or in the case of this hen, grow faster than she can keep up (I’ve trimmed her three times between July and December).
If you were to look at the area trimmed and the piece that came off you’d see it’s just hard beak: there’s no nerves, no blood, no soft tissue. It’s the same as trimming a toenail. It’s impossible for a chicken to feel this because there is no nerves in the end of a beak, just like there’s none in the end of their talons or the outter part of a hoof. What you’re thinking of is debeaking, in the link there’s an image where you can clearly see the missing portion of the upper beak, whereas after trimming it just looks like a normal beak again. This is basic chicken care, Google “overgown chicken beak” so see how bad it can if left untreated.
I know the tags said you don’t want to see animals unnecessarily hurt, but an overgrown beak will prevent this bird from eating, drinking, and cause a horrible death by starvation.
My friend’s cat has cancer and they’re trying to raise money to cover the vet bills. Anything you can give is appreciated ❤️ even just sharing this post !!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the world needs more examples of black men being kind to (and educated about) animals✨~
As a POC who is involved in animal care, rescue, and exotics I just want to say how few of us I see, and even fewer of us are male. I could write an essay about WHY it’s like that but the main gist is that we can change this by educating and giving people opportunities to overcome stigmas and fear.
Pictured above: my husband his dog, Valkyrie. The first dog he has ever picked out on his own, raised, and cared for himself.
Below: my husband and Mabel rose (who he swears he “doesn’t like that much”)
