In veterinary medicine, blood tests to help diagnose diseases in cattle were first proposed nearly a century ago, but were mainly developed in the 1960s, initially at specialized research or veterinary services laboratories, and eventually, with the advent of new equipment and the miniaturization of the analyzers, finding their way into veterinarians’ cabinets. Beyond their diagnostic value, veterinary surgeons and zootechnicians also speculated on the potential use of blood tests to evaluate animals’ nutritional status. Thus, a whole range of analyses are now proposed to the stakeholders responsible for animal health. Such analyses could help to define a metabolic profile, which would offer a valuable decision-making tool for experts and researchers alike. weiterlesen