Veterinary care is vital to the good health of your monkey and to satisfy the public that your monkey is healthy and disease free. Your
veterinarian can draw blood and run a New World or Old World blood panel to verify your monkey's good health. The extracted blood will be sent out to a lab for these tests. Your vet can run CBC and
fecal tests in his clinic. These tests will show general good health.
Vaccinations help assure your monkey the same protection and continued good health as vaccinations do for human children. NHP'S receive vaccinations for MMR II (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), Tetanus,
Rabies, and a TB test. Some caretakers have their vet take x-rays as a back up verification for TB and have rabies protection titers run. A CBC taken when your NHP is healthy serves as a normal base
for comparison if your monkey suddenly becomes ill.
If your NHP exhibits signs of illness it is important to act immediately as nature tells them to hide illness. Monkeys on good diets kept in a clean environment are generally very healthy. Just as in
humans, a poor diet can and does contribute to poor health. It is important to feed a good nutritious diet of monkey chow, vegetables, fruit and nuts.
You should maintain a file of all medical records and carry a copy of shot records and a health certificate when traveling with your monkey out of
state.
Blood Panel Terminology Simplified
(Familiarizing yourself with these layman terms may help you better understand your monkey’s blood panel results when discussing them with your veterinarian.)
ALB = "Albumin" = Liver function
ALKP = Alkaline phosphatase = Liver function
ALT = (also SGOT) = "Alanine Aminotransferase" = Liver (Detects hepatitis)
AMYL = "Amylase" = Pancreas
BUN = "Blood Urea Nitrogen" = Kidneys
Ca = "Calcium" = Bones, heart & muscles
CHOL - Cholesterol = Vessels, heart
CREA - kidney function ("Creatinine" )
GLOB = "Globulin" = Health of blood cells
GLU - sugar ("Glucose")
PHOS = "Phosphates" = Bone & skeletal muscle. (Helps absorption of
calcium & other electrolytes)
TBIL = "Total Bilirubin" = Liver
TP = "Total Protein"
And on another test: This is the blood count below.
HCT = "Hematocrit" = Measures percent of red blood cells in the plasma
HGB = "Hemoglobin" = Oxygen carrying blood cells
MCHC = "Mean corpuscle hemoglobin concentration" = Used when looking for type of anemia
WBC - White blood count (Total white blood cell count)
GRANS = "Granulocytes" = One type of white blood cell % grans = "Percent of granulocytes to total white blood cells present"
PLT = "Platelets" = Blood clotting factors (If too low, the person/animal would bleed to death)
RETICS = "Reticulocytes" = Immature red blood cells (Still young cells)
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