You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

All methods commonly used to estimate the number of platelets on a blood smear are flawed due to clumping and an uneven distribution on the slide. However, it is a worthwhile procedure in cases of severe thrombocytopenia.

There are 3 different formulae that can be applied to approximate the number of platelets in a blood sample. All formulae should be applied to counts taken of freshly prepared blood smears :

• If 6-7 platelets can be seen on a high power oil-immersion field is equivalent to approximately 100 x 10⁹ platelets per litre blood

• One platelet per 70 red blood cells is approximately equivalent to 100 x 10⁹ platelets / litre. Also, the following formula can be used  for field:

Platelet count (10⁹/l) = Number of  platelets x Number of  red blood cells (10¹²/l) x 10³  divided by the Number of  red blood cells

• * The following formula can be used for a field :

Platelet count (10⁹/l) = Number of platelets x Number of  white blood cells (10⁹/l) divided by the Number of white blood cells

* This is reported to be the most accurate method to use .

Last updated : October 2013