Hurrah for Pekoe! That's great news,
Marlene!
I'm
speechless about the lab business---I mean, what's the
point?!
Thank
goodness your vet can do the testing, there and then.
I know
I trust my vet more than some anonymous lab. I felt so reassured on Saturday
when he not only ran the FeLV test but physically showed me the result on the
tester 10 mins later.
Makes
you wonder how much more we don't know.....
Sending positive healing vibes for Pekoe -- may he
go from strength to strength!
hugs,
Kerry
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 7:17 PM
Subject: Lab Test Discrepancies
Hi All,
I took Pekoe for some follow-up blood work a couple of
weeks ago. Both his vet and I learned something that neither of us knew
before. The lab where we send the blood work to is located approx. 3
hrs. away, and the samples are sent on a daily basis by
courier. The last couple of times, the vet clinic has prepared a
slide to look at his Platelet Count themselves, as well as send a sample off
to the lab. The vet clinic runs the count manually (meaning they count
the number of platelets seen per field), whereas the lab runs the count by
machine. Pekoe's last Platelet Count from the lab was 11 (N = 93 - 514),
yet the vet clinic counted 4 - 5 platelets per field, and saw 8 in one field -
their Normal Range is 2 - 9 per field. They called the lab because they
couldn't understand why there was such a difference in the two values.
Come to find out, Platelets degrade or break down after 6 hrs!! The lab
told the vet clinic to go by their clinic test because it would be more
accurate than the lab's. Whenever I take Pekoe for blood work, I usually
take him at 9:30 am. The clinic looks at the slide before I even
leave. Now, their courier leaves at 2:00 pm, so by the time the lab
receives the samples it would most likely be around 5:00 pm. But, the
lab doesn't run the samples until the next morning. So, even though
samples are properly preserved/refrigerated, the time elapsed is going to
affect especially a Platelet Count. Who knew!!!!!!
Pekoe continues to do well on the Interferon Alpha
regime, and the higher dose of Prednisone. We're going to be able to
start reducing the dose of Prednisone now. His last blood work was as
follows:
WBC - 11.2 - was 8.4 (N = 4.2 - 13)
RBC - 6.1 - was 5.6 (N = 6.2 - 10.6)
Hb - 111 - was 107 (N = 93 - 153)
PCV - 30% - was 32% (N = 28 - 49%)
MCV - 50 - was 58 (N = 39 - 52)
MCH - 18 - was 19 (N = 13 - 17)
MCHC - 365 - was 335 (N = 300 - 344)
RDW - 21.6 - was 19.7 (N = 14 - 17)
T.S. Protein - 81 - was 80 (N = 60 - 80)
Seg Neutrophil Count - 8.85 - was 4.54 (N = 2.1 - 8.3)
Taking it one day at a time,
Marlene
Pekoe & Angel Digby
