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What does quick pre-anesthesia bloodwork check for? Is it common?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Yorkshire Terrier | Female | spayed | 9 years and 6 months old | 3.6 lbs

Our vet does a pre-anesthesia bloodwork in the office right before the procedure that day... what things would they be checking for that would give them a response that quickly? Is that common?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rebecca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 9th, 2017

Hi. I would ask Bella's vet what tests they specifically run but many veterinary clinics have inhouse blood machines that can check a complete blood count (white cell counts, red cell counts, hematocrit) and chemistry values to can help assess liver and kidney function, as well as blood glucose, etc. in some cases urinalysis may also be run. With the in house machines results are typically available in under an hour. There are a variety of tests and panels that may be used as general health screening and/or preanesthetic screening. Please talk with Bella's vet about any concerns you may have. I'm sure they want you to be comfortable about any procedures being performed.

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    Answered By Liz DeWandeler, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    This is a great question! Yes, this is very common, and considered the gold standard of practice these days. On the pre-anesthetic blood work, your vet will be looking for any abnormalities that can indicate the presence of an infection, whether or not Bella's organs are working properly (especially the ones that process the anesthetic medications used), and if she has the right amounts of red blood cells and platelets (for healthy blood clotting during surgery). Those are just a few things we are looking for.

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