Veterinarians use clinical chemistry and other laboratory tests to diagnose disease, to monitor disease progression or response to therapy, and to screen for the presence of underlying disease in apparently healthy animals. A wide variety of clinical chemistry tests are offered by clinical pathology laboratories for this purpose (laboratories differ on the combination of tests and test panels offered to their clients). The Clinical Pathology Laboratory of the Animal Health Diagnostic Center of Cornell University offers several chemistry panels, the most commonly used being the small and large animal panels and variants thereof (small animal liver panel, small animal renal panel, large animal liver panel). These panels include routinely used tests that are frequently used to help the veterinarian evaluate for disease in most body systems. Other tests, such as liver function testing, are not typically included in these panels, but can be ordered as individual tests.
This section provides detailed knowledge of clinical chemistry tests and other tests used to assess metabolic processes or organ systems, such as electrophoresis for qualitative protein assessment. The section is organized mostly by body system, with separate information on basics of chemistry test interpretation, techniques and optimal blood sample collection. We have also provided a quick test interpretation guide (i.e. reasons for increases or decreases in test results) for our chemistry tests.
