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mary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Heidi,
>
> I don't know the difference between serum and whole blood tests.  II 
> was trying to figure out the difference found this (I know it deals 
> with camels, not horses but I figured the idea was probably the same):
>
> "Measuring the serum selenium shows you the adequacy of the present 
> diet of the camel for selenium. The whole blood measurement shows you 
> how much selenium the camel had in his system when the red blood cells 
> were formed -- up to three months ago. Thus, the whole blood levels 
> may be a more accurate measure of long-term selenium status."
>
> Is this how it works for horses too?  So if you have been giving your 
> horse more selenium lately, the type of test  would really make a 
> difference if the red cells could have been formed up to 3 months 
> earlier, wouldn't it?  When you get the lab test results, how do you 
> know what type of test they gave?  Since they draw blood for the test, 
> does that mean it is automatically a whole blood test?  Or is this a 
> request we should be making when they draw the blood?  This is 
> confusing if you are not a chemist or a vet!
>
>  
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mary
The last test I did the serum Se and whold blood Se were almost the 
same. When I did it six months prior and found the Jbird was woefully 
low in Se they were again about the same.. But he didn't get any 
supplementation except what was in his feed, hay and grass. We don't 
have much Se in our soil in the great sand bar known as Florida. My vet 
gave the explanation above as to why it is good to measure both.

I checked mine the first time, put him on a program based on an article 
on Heidi's web site and did a follow up six months later where it was in 
the range suggested in the article. I did a follow up at a year and two 
years and he was maintaining the same level. I probably should do 
another one but just haven't gotten around to it.

Truman

--

"Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what 
we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true."  - 
Bertrand Russell




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