My dog is still sick. Is $300 for vet bloodwork & x-ray fair?

I recommend that your contact your vet's office to schedule a follow-up appointment. Your dog may need further diagnostics to determine the cause of the vomiting and diarrhea. While blood work is an excellent and worthwhile diagnostic tool (and I commend you on having it done), it does have limitations. Blood tests are extremely useful for looking at the overall health of your pet. From the tests, a vet can learn if your pet's vomiting is caused by an underlying medical condtion like diabetes, kidney or liver disease, or an infection. Blood work can also reveal if your pet is dehydrated from the vomiting. Many of these problems may not be obvious on a simple physical exam, but if caught early can be successfully treated or controlled, giving your pet a longer and better quality of life. Sometimes blood work can lead to a definitive diagnosis, but oftentimes blood work results guide us as to what the next diagnostic steps should be (radiographs, ultrasound or more specific blood testing).

It sounds like their treatment didn’t resolve the symptoms. Things like pancreatitis or GI obstruction won’t show up on routine blood work, so I would recommend calling the vet today for what needs to happens next. If an obstruction is one of the vet’s concerns, they may recommend x-rays or ultrasound. If pancreatitis is a concern, then usually they need to go on IV fluids for a day or two.

Oh no! Pinto sounds quite sick! Unfortunately I do agree that blood work as well as a urinalysis is in order. He may also need x-rays of his chest to see what his lungs look like if he has that bad of a cough. The blood in his urine could be due to a urinary tract infection, so checking his urine is a really good idea. He also may need a fecal check to see if he has intestinal parasites causing the diarrhea. While tests, like blood work, do not make the animal feel better, they can tell us a lot as to what is going on internally and how to best treat the animal. Certainly you can do supportive care for the diarrhea, (bland diet, etc) but I would be very concerned as to how sick your dog is that he needs more aggressive treatments, especially for the cough and blood in the urine. I would talk with your vet about supportive care such as broad spectrum antibiotics and fluids if you elect to not do the blood work. This may help Pinto to start feeling better. Bare in mind that if you skip doing the tests now and elect to treat supportively, he still may need further testing down the road, especially if he is not improving. I hope this helps. Good luck!

The bilirubin is a bit high, as is the ALP (alkaline phosphatase) but neither of these values is super specific in terms of what the cause or the best treatment is. We can see the ALP be elevated with stress, age, and sometimes even normal cell regeneration within the liver. The bilirubin can be slightly elevated when the blood sample is what we call "hemolyzed," which can sometimes happen when blood is spun down for a blood test to be run. Therefore, if he is still showing symptoms of illness, I would echo what Dr Ana said; it may be time to consider imaging. Either X-rays or an abdominal ultrasound maybe helpful in identifying the problem and therefore identifying the best way to treat it. Take him back to the vet if he's still having troubles, as he probably is in need of some more fluids as well. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach, I hope he's feeling better.

I would start with x Rays. The bulk of that price is for a Ct scan and you may find some answers or at least be able to say a few things it is not based on the x Rays alone. I would also talk about lab work to check for an infection

Please keep in mind that costs of procedures vary between areas and clinics within a specific area, so the prices I'm giving you are a very rough estimate. You would have to take Luna into the vet in order to get an exact cost. I imagine they would start with a physical exam, blood tests, and urinalysis. A physical exam can be between $45-55, blood tests could be around $100-$200, and a urinalysis around $50. A fecal exam may be done as well, and that could cost $40. The vet may want to further tests such as x-rays, which can start at $100 or more for one view. Depending on the results found, the vet may want to do further diagnostics. Personally, I would start with a physical exam, blood work, urinalysis, and fecal exam, and may add on additional tests from there depending on the results. I'd make an appointment for her with a vet. I hope this helps!

I'm sorry but Riko's symptoms are very non-specific so it is very difficult for me to know may be going on with him just based on your description. Blood tests and x-rays do not always give a diagnosis. That is why there are so many different testing modalities available. So, I would say you should start with chemistry and CBC blood testing and x-rays of his abdomen to check for any obstruction.