Veterinary Laboratory Medicine

Dr. Morag G. Kerr, BVMS, BSc, PhD, CBiol, FlBiol, MRCVS, spent six years as Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, where she set up the first final year elective course in the subject in the UK. She joined Vetlab Services as Chief Scientist in 1988 and became a partner in 1993.

Introduction vii

Part I: Haematology

1 The Red Blood Cells (Erythrocytes) 3

2 The Platelets (Thrombocytes) and the Coagulation Factors 35

3 The White Blood Cells (Leucoytes) 49

Part II: Clinical Biochemistry

Introduction to Clinical Biochemistry 69

4 The Plasma Proteins 73

5 The Electrolytes 81

6 The Minerals 91

7 The Nitrogenous Substances 101

8 Carbohydrate Metabolism 111

9 Bilirubin and Fat Metabolism 127

10 Clinical Enzymology – Plasma Enzymes in Diagnosis 135

11 Diagnosis Endocrinology 149

12 Non-Blood Body Fluids 169

13 Feline Virus Testing 181

Part III: Systematic Invesigation

14 Investigation on an Individual Organ Basis 199

15 Diagnosis Profiling and Pattern Recognition 209

Part IV: Practical Laboratory Medicine

16 Sample collection and Use of External Laboratories 243

17 Side-Room Testing in the Veterinary Practice 275

18 The ‘Practice Laboratory’ 307

Suggested Further Reading 355

Index 357