Detailed medical records, a carefully recorded history of a problem, and a thorough physical examination are often enough to establish a diagnosis.
Sometimes information from special sources is also needed. Blood, urine, and fecal tests are routinely done to get an idea of how a pet is doing internally. X-rays are valuable and can offer a look inside the body. Ultrasound is another imaging tool used to explore the inner workings of your pet without the trauma of exploratory surgery. Digital cytology can provide further information on troublesome skin issues, or lumps and bumps!
Adding diagnostic services to an already thorough physical exam allows our medical staff to get the most detailed picture of a pet and their well-being. We are then able to create an illness or wellness plan best suited for recovery and long-term health!
Idexx Laboratory in Edmonton does the majority of our diagnostic testing. This includes bloodwork, urinalysis, fecal tests, cytologies, histologies, allergy tests, bladder stone analysis and other specialized requests.
Fast, reliable, and far more accurate than other testing, the professional veterinary clinical pathologists, animal health technologists, and laboratory technicians at Idexx Labs have been working with Yellowhead Veterinary Clinic since the clinic opened.
In House Pre-Anesthetic Bloodwork:
To ensure that your pet can properly process and eliminate anesthetic agents, and to detect any hidden internal issues, we highly encourage that your pet have pre-anesthetic blood testing performed prior to any anesthetic procedure.
This testing is done in-clinic and is especially important with older pets who may have underlying organ problems. Another benefit to having the pre-anesthetic blood panel run on your pet is to find out what his or her baseline normal values are, while still healthy.
Our own RVT’s pull a small blood sample, and the results are interpreted by our veterinarians the same day!
Urine tests help to diagnose infection as well as important diseases such as diabetes mellitus and renal insufficiency. Internal parasites are diagnosed by fecal examinations.
Some of these tests can be done in our clinic by our trained Registered Veterinary Technologists, however for the most comprehensive analysis and to facilitate further testing for a diagnosis, samples are shipped off to IDEXX labs and reports are returned in a few days.
The clinic is equipped with a digital x-ray machine that can provide a look inside your pets, from the smallest Chihuahua to the largest Great Dane! X-rays are interpreted in clinic by our doctors but can be sent to veterinary radiologists for second opinions, when needed.
Ultrasounds are another valuable and non-invasive way to look at what is going on inside a pet’s body. A mobile ultrasound service provides our clients and patients with diagnostic testing right in our own clinic, then results are interpreted, and a final report is sent within a few days.
With a special device called VetScan Imagyst, our clinic is able to offer in house cytology services! We can analyze skin samples, including impression smears, ear swabs and skin swabs and detect the presence of yeast, inflammatory cells and bacteria. This aids in the detection and diagnosis of infection and can deliver accurate and efficient results within a single visit.
We can also provide rapid, expert clinical pathology review of common cytology specimens, such as fine-needle aspirates. Insights are received from a team of board-certified clinical pathologists to optimize diagnosis and provide continuous care with fewer delays to more patients.
