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[RC] Anemic horse - Eleanor KellonI agree with everything Susan said too. It was me that asked for the indices. The MCV is the size of the cells, MCH and MCHC measurement sof how much hemoglobin/iron is in them. The iron content of these cells is perfectly normal. The normal size is significant too. If red cell production is slow, more older cells are circulating and the MCV tends to be low, also low if a toxin or autoantibody is attacking the cells. Large cell volumes reflect a large percentage of very young cells, like you would see if the horse had had a blood loss. In fact, because your total red cell count was normal and these indices all dead middle of normal range, it's possible the PCV/hematocrit etc. readings are an error.
Really wouldn't lose too much sleep over this. Next time a vet is around, consider doing the post exercise hematocrit, or even just repeating a resting one. Also agree on selenium levels, although if that result is from serum only, no whole blood, you probably are within the target range. Agree on no further work up on the white cells now too. If it turns out he truly is anemic, then you could consider looking into that further to try to find the cause.
Eleanor
-- Eleanor M. Kellon, V.M.D. Equine Nutritional Solutions 58 Maple Farm Road Ephrata, PA 17522
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