Advanced Diagnostics For Faster Treatment
For sick pets, understanding the nature of the health concern speeds treatment. Medical histories and physical examinations don’t always tell the whole story, which is why our clinical team relies on up-to-date in-house lab equipment, radiology and imaging technology, and trusted reference laboratories.
Laboratory Testing
At Pound Ridge Veterinary Center, we provide effective, accurate, and timely diagnostics for pets. Diagnostic services like lab work and advanced imaging technology allow us to understand what’s going on inside your pet’s body, which plays a key role in maintaining your pet’s optimal health. Our facility is home to an in-house diagnostic laboratory, allowing us to diagnose your pet sooner and with greater accuracy.
Simple physical examinations may only begin to detect developing problems. Lab work provides a more in-depth view of your pet’s overall health.
- Complete blood count (CBC) tests for anemia, infection, inflammation, and measures some blood clotting components.
- Blood chemistry panel is made up of many different tests, mostly to assess the function of the major bodily organs like the kidneys, liver, and pancreas.
- Electrolytes testing for sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and phosphorus is useful in monitoring dehydration, bone metabolism, and general body health.
- Thyroid tests determine thyroid gland function. Since the thyroid gland helps regulate almost all metabolic functions, an underactive or overactive thyroid gland has serious repercussions. Thyroid disease can be managed with medication, radioiodine therapy, or surgical procedures.
- Urinalysis provides insight into abnormal kidney function, a common issue in older cats. Urine testing also provides clues to the presence of diabetes, a treatable and common illness.
Advanced Imaging
Radiology and ultrasound images allows us to look inside the body and provide vital information.
Radiology is an essential diagnostic tool that captures high-quality images of your pet’s internal systems without radiation exposure. Radiology is commonly used to diagnose cardiac disease, heart murmurs, respiratory issues, gastrointestinal and digestive system disorders, renal disease, bladder stones, tumors, urinary tract disease, muscular skeletal disorders, and arthritis.
Benefits of radiology: non-invasive, painless, fast results, clear images, and easy sharing
Ultrasound is advanced, non-invasive imaging technology that utilizes sound waves to examine specific internal organs and other soft tissues. Ultrasound technology is commonly used to diagnose foreign body ingestion, abdominal masses, intestinal disorders, cancer, pregnancy, and heart and cardiovascular abnormalities.
Acute Pain
Acute pain comes on suddenly, typically as a result of an injury, surgery, or infection. Fortunately, acute pain is usually temporary and goes away once the condition causing it is treated. One important way to minimize acute pain is to anticipate it and aggressively manage it with a pre-emptive approach. This is particularly true in surgical situations or when treating dental disease.
Arthritis & Joint Pain
Many dogs and cats develop degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) at some point in their lives. Arthritis can be a painful, chronic, and debilitating disease. Symptoms include changes in mobility, lameness, or stiffness.
Our ultimate goal is designing effective, appropriate treatment. Along with taking a history and performing a careful examination, radiographs (X-rays) often help to characterize the nature and degree of arthritis, as well as identifying the affected joints. Our approach for managing arthritis is multi-modal, offering several avenues of therapy used in conjunction with one another to increase effectiveness of treatment. We may recommend a combination of pain medications, prescription diets, and weight loss and exercise programs to increase mobility.
Allergy Testing
Like people, pets can develop allergic symptoms to certain substances. Common pet allergens include airborne pollens, food, mold spores, and house dust mites. Some pets react to flea bites or the saliva of other biting insects, too. The most common clinical signs are dermatologic, rashes or itching, recurrent ear problems, gastro-intestinal signs, and weight loss.
Dealing with allergies and other skin conditions is not always easy as symptoms may come and go. That’s why we aim to manage allergic symptoms by relieving the itching, vomiting, diarrhea, or discomfort. If the specific allergen can be identified, avoiding exposure helps tremendously. This is especially true for food allergies.
We will develop a treatment plan unique to your pet’s symptoms and allergens. This may include one or a combination of medications, hypersensitization therapy, and topical therapies.
Dermatology
Skin issues are one of the most common reasons pets visit the veterinarian. These conditions are typically not life-threatening, but can be extremely uncomfortable. The most troublesome symptoms are relentless itching and scratching, upsetting for both pets and owners. Skin disorders may be the result of an infectious or non-infectious disease, parasitic infestation, or allergic reaction.
We’ll work with you to manage your pet’s skin condition, but to do our best we need to understand what is going on beneath the skin. Tests we recommend to diagnose skin disorders include: skin scrapings, fungal or bacterial cultures, cytology, and skin biopsies.
End of Life Care
Caring for our patients at every stage of life, we value the important role we play as they approach end of life. Our responsibility and an integral part of our mission is to provide palliative care for pets with terminal illnesses, compassionate pet euthanasia when appropriate, and tools for memorials and grief support.
