Speaker:
Dr. G:
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So we had an amazing lecture
on clinical pathology.
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From Ohio State, Dr.
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Laurie Millward, thank you
so much for being here.
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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Well, thanks for having me.
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Dr. G:
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So for anybody that doesn't know
who you are, can you let them
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know about what brought you here?
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Um, my name's Laurie Millward, and I'm a
clinical assistant professor in clinical
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pathology at Ohio State University.
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Um, I work as a clinical pathologist,
and I teach veterinary students
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and our trainees in our program.
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Um, but I also have a lot of experience
in shelter medicine and field work, um,
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outreach medicine and clinical practice.
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Dr. G:
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Awesome.
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So I guess the first question, just
because I think that a lot of people
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think of pathology, and they just
think of, like, necropsies, like
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exams, and they don't understand.
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Yeah.
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So what is clinical pathology?
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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That's a great question.
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So, um, clinical pathology is basically
looking at laboratory samples.
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If we were to equate it to human
medicine, we are hematologists basically,
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so we look at a lot of blood work.
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We look at a lot of blood chemistry
values, looking at electrolytes, um, how
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are organs functioning within the animals.
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And honestly, we see samples from
more live patients than animals
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that have already passed, as my
anatomic pathology friends do.
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We look at cytology samples,
so fine needle aspirates, joint
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fluid, cerebrospinal fluid.
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All of those things, um, we look at on
a daily basis to help the clinicians
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that see 'em in the hospital make better
decisions about, you know, what the next
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test should be or what kind of treatment
plan we should get for those animals.
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Dr. G:
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What kind of information can, can you
get from animals, for instance, from
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neglect cases, like animal hoarding and
in some cases, like dog fighting cases?
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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Yeah, we, we can actually
get a lot of information.
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And so one of the things that
if we have the resources for for
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these cases is to obtain these
samples as soon as we possibly can.
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Basically, as soon as they come into
our facility, we wanna grab blood
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samples on them so that we can assess
what their red blood cell counts are,
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what their white blood cell counts are.
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And also look at, um, other parameters
such as protein levels and electrolyte
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levels that they are presenting
to us right from scene with.
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And what that does is it not only helps
us take better care of the animals once
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they're in our shelter, but it also helps
us determine further evidence that helps
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us show that the animal was neglected.
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Maybe it wasn't provided with enough
food or enough water or maybe there
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were signs of abuse or failure to
provide medical care to that animal,
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so, so they ended up developing these
medical conditions, um, that we can
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actually detect through blood work.
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Dr. G:
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And we can use these results also
to identify if they're responding to
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treatment and to just further prove
that it was malnutrition and it was
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not, like, a disease process, right?
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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Exactly, and that is actually one of the
coolest things about shelter medicine,
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is being able to show that as long
as these animals get basic care, so
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water, food, a balanced diet, and just
shelter, they end up correcting these
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abnormalities that they present with.
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And we can see these values in their blood
work go back to normal over time, which
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is, which is a wonderful thing to be able
to show in court that nothing special was
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needed by these animals to get better.
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It was just basic care.
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And it's, it just provides another
element of evidence in the case
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that helps, um, prove that,
that neglect or abuse happened.
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Dr. G:
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I'm very grateful in the fact that I,
I have access to individuals like you.
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You know, I can send out samples,
and we can do a lot of analysis,
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but I know that I hear from a lot of
especially, like, rural, um, shelters-
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Yeah ... that do not have a lot of money.
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So if they don't have a lot of
funds, can they still use clinical
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pathology to help their cases?
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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That is a great, great, um,
question, so the answer is yes.
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Um, you don't have to have a lot of money.
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You don't have to run a full
complete blood, blood count or
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CBC or chemistry on these animals.
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Really, all you need is
a PCV and a total solids.
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PCV is a packed cell volume, which
is where we just take a little
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bit of blood in a tiny tube.
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We spin it down, and we can see if the
animal's anemic or if they're dehydrated.
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We can tell from those results.
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And then if you can make a blood
smear, all you need is a glass slide
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and a drop of blood, and you look
at it underneath the microscope.
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And you can tell so much about the
animal's health and wellbeing just
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based on those, um, easy-to-do,
cheap, and inexpensive things.
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Dr. G:
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So anybody that, like veterinarians
and technicians in shelters that
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wanna get better at looking at these
slides and stuff- Yeah ... what
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resources are there for them?
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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So I would first recommend
getting a good hematology book.
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So there are many out there.
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They have a lot of good resources on how
to look at a blood smear, what you're
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looking for, how to estimate platelet
count, white blood cell count, that
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sort of thing, just from a blood smear.
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But then also doing things like CE.
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So going to, um, blood smear wet labs
and, and practicing making a blood
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smear, reading a blood smear and
stuff can give you a lot of really
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good, uh, experience and information
on how to look at those things.
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Dr. G:
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Excellent.
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This is amazing.
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Thank you for what you're doing.
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Thank you.
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Thank you for being here, and thank
you for sharing all this with us.
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Dr. Laurie Millward, DACVP:
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Well, thanks for interviewing me.
