Seeking healthy pet dogs for a study at The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University

The Small Animal Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care team needs healthy dogs that weigh more than 10 kg and are between 1-8 years of age for a study looking at blood clotting in healthy dogs. Time requirement: One blood sample will be taken on one day, and no further action is required. Benefit: Your dog will receive a free physical examination by a veterinarian.

Our team is running a study to determine normal values (“reference intervals”) for three different machines that are used for blood coagulation testing in the hospital. This study has been approved by the Animal Ethics Committee at Murdoch University.

Essentially, we want to know which values obtained by each test should be considered “normal” in a population of dogs. By testing blood from healthy dogs, we will be able to establish reference intervals that are expected for normal dogs. We can then compare the values we obtain from our sick dog patients to the normal reference interval to determine if the sick dogs require treatment for a blood clotting abnormality.

Eligible dogs cannot be receiving any medications (except routine de-wormer and flea/tick prevention).

The study will involve your dog coming in for an appointment on a set day in February or March for a physical examination and a 10mL blood collection. Blood will be collected from a vein in the neck or in the leg. Once the blood sample has been collected, your dog's involvement in the study will end.

If you are interested please:

- Email Michelle Rouffignac (m.rouffignac@murdoch.edu.au) to sign up - she will arrange a date and time for you to come in with your dog.

- Michelle will email you a health history sheet and a consent form for you to complete and either email back or bring on your appointment day.

Please contact Michelle Rouffignac, Claire Sharp (c.sharp@murdoch.edu.au), or Melissa Claus (m.claus@murdoch.edu.au) with any questions.

*Some dog breeds are not eligible - please contact us to know if your dog qualifies