In house Laboratory

Why and in house laboratory?

Having the ability to run laboratory testing in the clinic is a must. When sick or critically ill patients need bloodwork, we often want results as soon as possible. Our in-house laboratory machines allow us to do so. In 15-20 minutes, we can have CBC, Chemistry, Electrolytes and SDMA values available for interpretation.  We also have many other capabilities including checking for heartworm, tick diseases and performing a urinalysis. Having in house capabilities also makes it helpful for our surgery patients to be evaluated prior to anesthesia.   

Why should I check my pet's blood prior to a surgery procedure? 

When going under anesthesia we try to make everything as safe as possible.  We use the newest and safest drugs, multi-parameter anesthetic monitoring and having intravenous access with fluids. Unfortunately, a physical exam prior to the procedure does not show us how our organs that need to process said drugs are functioning.  Having bloodwork prior to the anesthesia event will help lessen the chances of an anesthetic death.  If bloodwork shows signs of organ changes that are significant, it may change the surgical plans for your pet...or if there are slight changes it may alter what medications we may want to use for the procedure.  The more we know, the better we can treat.   

Bloodwork can be sent out too, right?

We work with wonderful outside laboratories that we trust.  If it is more cost effective to send out your animal's sample, and we are not needing to get results right away, we will let you know.  Sending out routine bloodwork usually will be more in-depth, and we can always pair it up with your yearly testing.