Why is presurgical blood work sent out and what does it show?

Question

Precious had her presurgical blood work today for a spay & bump removal. Since it’s next week they told me they’ll send it out to a lab because it’ll be cheaper. Is this normal? Also what does pre surgical blood work determine? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 9 years and 2 months old | 4 lbs

Andrea M. Brodie, DVM · Accepted Answer

In-house blood work is very expensive as we have to buy very expensive laboratory equipment, ie little diagnostic plates or rotors that can only be used once. So using in house labs is only useful when we need results right away. As your dog's surgery is next week there is enough time to send out the blood and receive a result in time for the surgery, and so have a less expensive way of doing bloodwork. Presurgical bloodwork is usually done in older animals as they could have some health conditions that make an anesthesia or surgery itself risky. By taking presurgical bloodwork we can evaluate liver and kidney function and other imbalances or problems with vital organs. It protects your dog as we can tailor the anesthesia to your dog.

Why is presurgical blood work sent out and what does it show?

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