Laboratory

Laboratory:  Our new digital in-house laboratory equipment allows us to provide you with an instant overall health profile for your pet, including Complete Blood Count (CBC), Chemistry profile, urinalysis, cytology, and fecal testing.  The CBC allows us to check your pet's red and white blood cell counts, blood volume and clotting ability.  The Chemistry will check for problems with liver and kidney function, blood sugar, proteins, electrolytes etc.  Fecal examinations search for internal parasites such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, coccidia among others.  Skin scrapings and ear cytology may be needed to search for mange mites, ear mites or infection.  As in human medicine some testing needs to be sent out to specialized laboratories around the  country.

Intestinal Parasites

Roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, coccidia and giardia are all different types of intestinal parasites which cause vomiting, diarrhea, poor coat and failure to thrive.  They often go unnoticed by pet owners because they live in the intestines of your pet.  It is important to have fecal samples evaluated regularly and any time your pet has loose stools without a known cause.  Puppies and kittens are often born with several of these parasites which are easily treated with medications.  These parasites are considered zoonotic which means that they can be transmitted to humans, especially children, causing serious illness.  For more information on intestinal parasites and their zoonotic potential please visit the Companion Animal Parasite Council website. 

Microchipping

We offer microchip identification as a means of permanent identification for your pet.  Microchips contain a personal identification number that is unique to only your pet.  The microchip is so tiny, (about the size of a grain of rice), that it fits through a hypodermic needle.  Like a vaccination, it is injected under the skin between the shoulder blades where it remains safely for life.  The procedure takes just seconds and can be done as an outpatient or any other office visit.  A scanner is used to read the microchip number should your pet ever become lost, much like a bar code reader at a store.  There are no "radio" waves or electrical waves given off by the microchip.  We regularly reunite pets with their owners at our office with a simple phone call, when there is a microchip present.  Collars fall off, tags fall off.  Don't let your pet become a statistic if they should stray from home.