Annual Bloodwork
Annual bloodwork should be part of your dogs annual health and wellbeing visit with your Vet.
Regardless of your dogs diet (fresh vs kibble), annual bloodwork allows you to get on top of any red flags in the early stages.
What to ask for - In Australia, the laboratory IDEXX runs a blood panel called GERD Canine Screening Profile, you can tag onto this Thyroid which is an important test if you feed "pet mince" which could contain trachea in the likes of Beef & Horse mince could cause disruptions in your dog's thyroid function. Feeding the trachea in the form of raw of dehydrated on a regular basis may also cause disruptions.
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Breed differences
Some breeds will have different results in their blood work, learn more about that here.
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Results can differ between fresh food fed & kibble fed dogs
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Calcium levels
Some say that Calcium levels in the blood is said by some not to be a good indicator of whether a dog is calcium deficient, this is because around 99% is held in the bones however others state that if a "Total" calcium test is run this should be a good indicator.
If your Vet suggests your puppy is calcium deficient because they do not agree with raw feeding, ask them more questions as to what symptoms your dog is displaying that has lead them to this conclusion. You may also like to ask them that if kibble fed dogs also experience this issue - sadly some Vets are simply anti-raw. You can always ask your Vet to provide you with a calcium syrup supplement if they think your dog is not getting enough calcium vs being pressured into feeding kibble.
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