When your pet is sick or injured, you want to find out their test results as soon as possible. In-house veterinary diagnostics are valuable tools to help diagnose dogs’ and cats’ conditions quickly. Our Stanton Pet Hospital is equipped with an in-house laboratory that can handle X-rays, ultrasound, blood work, and other diagnostic tests. Learn how your four-legged friend can benefit from in-house veterinary diagnostics.

In-house veterinary diagnostics

If your pet is injured or acutely ill, you want them to receive treatment as soon as possible. To help immediately put your pet on the road to recovery, our in-house diagnostic services include:

  • Blood work — We can perform basic blood work such as a complete blood count (CBC) and a biochemistry profile. These tests are necessary to assess your pet’s overall health and can help our team detect conditions such as anemia, infection, dehydration, electrolyte abnormalities, diabetes, clotting disorders, liver dysfunction, and kidney disease.
  • Urinalysis — Urinalysis enables us to evaluate your four-legged friend’s urinary tract function and can detect conditions such as diabetes, urinary stones, urinary tract infections, and kidney disease.
  • X-rays — By taking X-rays, our team can visualize your pet’s bones and internal structures, helping us diagnose conditions such as heart disease, pneumonia, kidney stones, urethral blockages, tumors, gastrointestinal (GI) foreign bodies, fractures, and arthritis. 
  • Ultrasound — Ultrasound, an imaging modality many veterinary practices cannot offer, is a noninvasive diagnostic tool we can use to assess your pet’s internal structures. Situations in which ultrasound imaging is helpful include:
    • Evaluating internal organs such as the liver and kidneys
    • Assessing lung health
    • Collecting sterile urine for culture
    • Performing an aspiration biopsy
    • Evaluating the heart size, structure, and function
    • Checking for chest or abdominal fluid accumulation
    • Looking for tumors or cancer metastasis
    • Looking for GI obstructions or inflammation
  • Cytology — We can perform cytology on skin and ear samples to help guide treatment for dermatologic diseases and ear infections.
  • Parasite testing — Our team can test your pet’s blood and feces to determine if they have parasites such as heartworms, roundworms, whipworms, hookworms, Giardia, and coccidiosis. In addition, we can test your furry pal for tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease and anaplasmosis.

In-house veterinary diagnostics provide timely results

Because our Stanton Pet Hospital team can perform in-house diagnostics, we don’t have to send samples to an outside laboratory for testing and wait multiple days to learn the results. By performing in-house veterinary diagnostics, we can receive your pet’s results before their appointment ends. 

In-house veterinary diagnostics allow us to begin treatment quickly

Our veterinarians are extremely intelligent and knowledgeable, and while our team can make educated guesses about your pet’s condition, diagnostic results are necessary to be able to devise an immediate, effective treatment plan to address your four-legged friend’s issue. Because we can perform many in-house diagnostics, we can start treatment as soon as possible, knowing that the plan is in your pet’s best interest. Early intervention typically results in a condition’s swift resolution, and improves your pet’s prognosis. 

In-house veterinary diagnostics can save your pet’s life

During an emergency, your pet can’t wait days for us to receive their diagnostic test results. Our team needs to know what is ailing your pet as quickly as possible, so we can provide the correct treatment. For example, if your dog is hit by a car and is having trouble breathing, we can quickly ultrasound their chest and abdomen to determine if they have internal bleeding. Having in-house ultrasound capability greatly helps guide your pet’s treatment plan, which enables us to provide the care your pet needs as soon as possible.

In-house veterinary diagnostics improve anesthetic safety

Being able to perform in-house diagnostics helps our team detect underlying conditions that may affect your pet’s anesthetic safety. For instance, if your pet’s blood work reveals they have elevated kidney enzymes, we will adjust their anesthetic plan to ensure the procedure doesn’t further damage their kidneys. In addition, if we suspect your pet has a heart condition, we may recommend X-rays or an electrocardiogram (EKG) before inducing anesthesia.

In-house veterinary diagnostics can save you time and money

If a veterinary practice doesn’t have the capability to perform the necessary diagnostics, you must schedule an appointment at another practice, which can waste valuable time. In addition, a second veterinary practice is likely to charge you for an office visit and other items, increasing your ill pet’s care costs.

In-house veterinary diagnostics provide peace of mind

Having to wait multiple days to get your pet’s diagnostic results can be incredibly stressful. You want answers as soon as possible so you know your pet’s diagnosis and prognosis. Our in-house diagnostics allow us to provide you with immediate answers, eliminating days of worry about your four-legged friend.

Our team uses highly regarded outside laboratories to complement our in-house diagnostic capabilities. If your pet is healthy and we perform their screening blood work, our team may send the samples to an outside facility. In addition, if your pet needs complex tests, we may need to send their tests to an outside laboratory.  If X-rays or ultrasound don’t provide the information we need about your pet’s health status, we will refer your pet to a facility that can perform more advanced imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT). Having the ability to rely on data from our in-house diagnostic services, as well as from outside laboratories, our team can correctly diagnose and appropriately treat your pet as quickly as possible.

If your pet is exhibiting illness signs, they can benefit from our in-house veterinary diagnostic services. Schedule your pet’s sick visit or their annual wellness appointment with our Stanton Pet Hospital team.