Clinical application of reticulocyte counts in dogs and cats

Reticulocytes are anucleate immature red blood cells that contain a network of RNA, organelles, and mitochondria, which stain with supravital dyes. Both aggregate and punctate reticulocytes are present in domestic cats, and aggregate reticulocytes are used to assess the degree of regeneration in anemic dogs and cats. Multiple factors influence the degree of regenerative response to anemia. These factors include time of reticulocyte measurement, concurrent diseases, species, and ongoing therapy. Although many automated systems for reticulocyte enumeration exist, manual counts remain the gold standard in veterinary medicine.