By using different pathology tests, we can understand the state of your pet’s health and provide a diagnosis and treatment using the evidence from the pathology results.
If your pet requires a sedation or anaesthetic, we recommend that they also have a blood test to check their health before administering any medications. We also recommend that elderly pets with health concerns and all pets with ailments receive yearly blood tests to check their general wellbeing.
Taking the blood from your pet requires your pet – in some instances – to have a small patch of hair clipped so the area for the needle to be inserted can be cleaned properly. Once the blood has been collected, processing of the tests can take from 20 minutes if they are processed in-house, or overnight if they need to be sent to the laboratory.
Histopathology looks at changes in body tissue that is caused by a disease. It includes sending samples of your pet (i.e. part of a tumour) to a special laboratory where advanced testing will take place and results will often take several days to be returned.
Other types of tests sent to pathology labs can be for persistent infections (i.e. ear infections, fungal infections) to determine the best type of medicine to help control the health problem.
