Recently Carver Lake Veterinary Center offered to help aid in animal reseach by taking part in a study of Minature Schnauzers.
Several of our clients brought in their Miniature Schnauzers to donate blood for this study which is hoping to help us learn more about a serious disease in their breed.
Hyperlipidemia, a disease in which the dog’s blood carries an elevated level of fat, can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea,seizures and eye changes. Researchers at Texas A&M hope to learn more about the causes of hyperlipidemia by studying the blood of both normal and affected dogs.
When a disease has a high prevalence in a particular breed of animal, genetics are suspected as playing a part. Miniature Schnauzers with a known family tree, as evidenced by their registration papers, participated.
The dogs had to visit the clinic after fasting and have blood taken in the same way as blood might be taken for other tests run at out clinic. A series of questions for the owner and veterinarian asked about the dogs’ general health, diet, and history of symptoms was also obtained.
As a scientific study, owners were informed of the purpose of the study, gavetheir written consent for their dogs participation, and received results. Individual results were provided for each dog.
We were happy to be a part of this study so that we can gain more information on how to diagnose, treat, and even prevent this disease. We want to thank our participating dogs and their owners for their time and blood samples! If you’d like more information on hyperlipidemia, click here.
