Sources, originality & review status
How this course was built
Originality
All lesson text, chart plates, cases, calculators and tools are original GlobalVet material written from published veterinary clinical-pathology knowledge. Published schemes are taught with attribution and are never renamed as ours: reference intervals follow ASVCP guidance, CKD staging follows the IRIS guidelines, and the named textbook tables keep their authors. The six named reading methods (S.M.E.A.R., C.L.U.E., S.E.D.I., P.R.E.P., C.H.E.M. and S.E.N.D.) are GlobalVet teaching tools, not published clinical guidelines. Every morphology shown to a learner is a real credited micrograph; charts are typographic and depict no cells.
Review status
Every interval, cut-off and answer key in this course traces to a named textbook, guideline or reference listed below. They are educational reference values: use your own laboratory's interval before relying on any number, and verify drug, dose and protocol decisions against a current formulary. Texts sometimes give a range of values; check your own laboratory's interval. Report an error: info@globalvetco.com.
Real micrographs
Every micrograph carries its author, source and license on the credits page. Fields are released only after a photo review; a field that does not pass is never shown, never drawn and never replaced by a sketch.
Sources cited across the lessons
Sources behind the canonical numbers table
- "correction formula (or adjusting calcium values for albumin concentration) are not recommended for use")
- "cyclic thrombocytopenia" is the classical name of the A. platys disease
- "Heparin causes clumping of platelets and is not recommended")
- "it is unclear if this formula works for other species")
- "Robust methods are recommended when ≥ 40 and ≤ 120 reference samples are available" (quoted from the paper)
- about 10% dilution, "this effect should be compensated for"
- absent splenic function, e.g. splenectomy)
- Basicmedicalkey, body-fluid hemacytometer counts
- CAPC guidelines, Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. (capcvet.org): A. platys infection with thrombocytopenia confirmed (petechial to ecchymotic hemorrhage, epistaxis)
- Ca×P < 70 mg²/dL² supported (IRIS education article: Ca×P > 70 was a poor prognostic indicator in dogs)
- CLSI C46 and H11 via acutecaretesting.org (plastic syringe, room temperature, analyzed within 30 minutes
- Cornell AHDC, Samples for hematology
- Cowell & Tyler, Diagnostic Cytology and Hematology of the Dog and Cat, 5th ed.
- Danish Veterinary Journal 2021 (cats: "an insufficient or lacking respiratory compensation in this species")
- DiBartola 4th ed. (2012)
- DiBartola, Fluid, Electrolyte and Acid-Base Disorders, 4th ed. (2012)
- eClinPath (Cornell), Acid-base: response to disturbances (both dog formulas
- eClinPath (Cornell), Concentrating ability
- eClinPath (Cornell), Free ionized calcium
- eClinPath (Cornell), Platelet number (citrate redraw
- eClinPath (Cornell), RBC inclusions and RBC quick guide
- eClinPath (Cornell), Urinalysis — Overview (Procedure): standard volume 5 mL, "centrifuged in a low speed centrifuge (e.g. 250 g for 5 minutes)", resuspend in a standard 0.5 mL
- eClinPath (Cornell), Urinalysis — Overview: several random fields examined at 40×
- eClinPath, ALP
- eClinPath, Effusions
- eClinPath, Potassium
- eClinPath, red cell quick guide and poikilocytosis
- eClinPath, Sample collection
- eClinPath, Sample collection (EDTA is hypertonic: a small blood volume shrinks red cells and falsely lowers the MCV)
- Ginel et al., Veterinary Dermatology (2002)
- Greiner Bio-One VACUETTE citrate tube (1 part citrate : 9 parts blood
- IATA packing instruction 650 (verify against the current edition)
- iced plastic syringes gain oxygen)
- IRIS pocket guide (IDEXX)
- IRIS pocket guide, Diagnosing, Staging and Treating Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats (IRIS / IDEXX, June 2026): "Persistent increased SDMA >14 µg/dL" supports CKD diagnosis
- IRIS pocket guide, Diagnosing, Staging and Treating CKD in Dogs and Cats (2026): keep phosphorus < 4.6 mg/dL (stage 2), < 5.0 (stage 3), < 6.0 (stage 4)
- IRIS Treatment Recommendations for CKD in Cats (2026): < 4.5 mg/dL (> 2.7 mg/dL) — one table, both species (wording differs only in rounding)
- IRIS Treatment Recommendations for CKD in Dogs (2026): phosphorus < 4.6 mg/dL (> 2.7 mg/dL)
- IRIS, Measurement and interpretation of proteinuria and albuminuria (iris-kidney.com)
- IRIS, Urine Specific Gravity (iris-kidney.com)
- IRIS, Urine Specific Gravity (iris-kidney.com: normally hydrated cats 1.035–1.060
- IRIS, Urine Specific Gravity (iris-kidney.com: normally hydrated dogs 1.015–1.045
- ISO 6710, CLSI H01-A6)
- isoenzyme rule from Stockham & Scott 2nd ed. (2008)
- Meier et al., BMC Vet Res 2020 (PMC7745459)
- Meier et al., BMC Vet Res 2020 (PMC7745459: CSF examined "with a maximum delay of 30 min")
- Na 140–155 mEq/L remains an example interval
- needle-only "woodpecker" technique)
- not decision-changing) — Atlas pyuria quote verified exact
- platelet diameters from Today's Veterinary Practice, Long (2025), Blood smear review: platelets
- possible range 1.001 to > 1.075)
- possible range 1.001 to > 1.085)
- Raskin & Meyer 4th ed. (2022)
- redirect the needle "several times"
- refrigerated "but not frozen")
- refrigerated, out of direct contact with the ice pack)
- regenerative anemia
- Royal Canin Academy, Chu (2024), Canine round cell tumor cytology
- Schalm's 7th ed. (2022)
- Schalm's Veterinary Hematology 7th ed. (2022)
- schizonts 15–250 mcm in macrophages of lymph node, spleen, liver
- SDMA staging bands (canine 18–35, feline 18–25 = stage 2)
- sizes from Checa et al., Parasites & Vectors 2019 (PMC6434893: "large (3-5 μm) or small piroplasms (0.5-2.5 μm)")
- Stockham & Scott 2nd ed. (2008)
- the interval depends on whether the formula includes potassium — other texts give different AG intervals)
- the Merck Veterinary Manual (Serum Biochemical Analysis Reference Ranges table)
- The Merck Veterinary Manual 11th ed. (2016)
- The Merck Veterinary Manual online, Cytauxzoonosis in Cats (Tarigo, reviewed 2022
- The Merck Veterinary Manual online, Hemotropic Mycoplasma Infections in Animals (Foley, reviewed 2022
- the qualitative size statement stands
- thresholds compared with eClinPath (Cornell), Absolute reticulocyte count
- Today's Veterinary Practice, Obtaining a sample for cytology using fine-needle biopsy
- typical eyepieces have field numbers of 6–28 mm (Nikon MicroscopyU, Field of View)
- updated 2026): piroplasms round to oval, ~0.8–2.2 mcm in RBCs (typically 1–4% of RBCs)
- use your own laboratory's interval
- use your own laboratory's interval (analyzer-specific
- Valenciano & Cowell (2013)
- Vet Clin Pathol basophilia study (PMC12009785)