How to Measure Urea & Leukocytes

Measuring the leukocyte and blood urea nitrogen levels in your animal gives you an idea of how healthy your pet is. Leukocytes are the white blood cells in your pet and blood urea nitrogen, or BUN, is an indicator of the health of the liver and kidneys. Knowing what these levels are allows pet owners to take early action if there is a problem.

Things You'll Need

  • Blood samples
  • Urine samples
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Instructions

    • 1

      Take your pet to its veterinarian. Only a doctor can request laboratories to run certain tests that will measure the amounts of leukocytes and blood urea nitrogen in an animal.

    • 2

      Obtain a urine sample from your pet and bring it to your veterinarian or have the vet obtain a sample directly from your animal's bladder. The laboratory can run a urinalysis, which will measure the amount of leukocytes present in the urine. Veterinarians can also perform in-house tests to determine the preliminary amounts of leukocytes, although lab tests are more accurate.

    • 3

      Request that the veterinarian draws a blood sample and runs a CBC, or complete blood count, on your pet. Complete blood counts can measure the leukocyte count in the blood.

    • 4

      Order a chemistry panel to be run on the blood to evaluate the blood urea nitrogen level in your pet. These results are usually more accurate if your animal has been fasted for 12 hours before the blood is taken.