Diagnostic Services Provided

In addition to a good physical exam with a good medical history, accurate diagnostics are a critical component to your pet’s health care. Whether we are running routine heartworm testing during a wellness exam or trying to pinpoint the cause of an illness, we utilize in-house as well as outside laboratory diagnostics to provide timely and accurate test results.

Our diagnostics include (but are not limited to):

1. Digital radiographs (xrays)—We utilize digital radiography and send most of our xrays out for consultation with a boarded radiologist or cardiologist (which is included in the price). This increases the accuracy of interpretation.
2. In-house bloodwork—We can perform hundreds of bloodwork parameters both in-house and through our outside laboratory. This includes testing for (but not limited to) heartworm disease, tick-borne diseases, Cushings, diabetes, renal disease, liver disease, portosystemic shunt, Addisons, pancreatitis, leptospirosis, feline leukemia, FIV, anemia, IMHA, exocrine pancreatic syndrome, Evans syndrome, and thyroid disease.
3. Urinalysis and fecal tests—We send our urinalysis and fecal samples to an outside laboratory. This increases the accuracy of the test results.
4. Cytology and biopsies—We can take samples of skin diseases, masses, growths and tumors and look at the cells under a microscope to help diagnose types of infections and cancers of the skin. We provide both in-house and outside laboratory testing of aspirates of these growths to get as accurate diagnosis as possible prior to treatment recommendations.
5. Ultrasound—Two of our doctors have continuing education in ultrasonography. This can help diagnose pregnancies, detect abnormal fluid accumulation or diseased organs such as liver, kidney, gallbladder, pancreas, adrenal, intestinal, or bladder. We do not perform echocardiograms (ultrasound of the heart).
6. Blood pressure—Our portable Doppler blood pressure unit is a vital diagnostic tool for many of our patients. Many of our technicians are skilled in obtaining an accurate blood pressure in a calm, non-invasive technique.
7. Eye tests—We offer tonometry (eye pressure testing) to check for glaucoma, fluoroschein stain (to check for corneal ulcers) and Schirmer tear test (to test for dry eye).