What are white blood cells and why are they important?
White blood cells or leukocytes (“leuko” means ’white’) are essential to help protect the body against infectious organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, or against foreign material that may enter the body through various routes. It sometimes helps to think of white blood cells like the “armed forces” of the body, with different branches that have different roles. Just like a country’s armed forces have an army, a navy, and an air force, the armed forces of body have five types of white blood cells that are called neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. These different groups of leukocytes respond independently or in combination, depending on the disease or problem that is present. What does the CBC tell us about white blood cells? a) Numbers: As with the red blood cells, the analyzer counts the total number of white blood cells and reports a White Blood Cell count (WBC), which gives an indication of the dog’s general level of protection against infection. The
