Like humans, early detection in pets can be key in preventing diseases, reducing and sometimes even avoiding costly medical bills. The veterinary care that is included in your VIP Club membership allows your vet team to give your pet the best in preventative health care which can lead to a longer and happier life for your pet.
Important Diagnostic Tests
Diagnostic testing is essential for early detection against disease and to monitor your pet’s health progress, and is used to determine illness, infection, disease or sickness. These tests can accurately diagnose conditions that are both minor and major, they are of great importance to your pet's health. Without the use of diagnostic testing, there would be many conditions that would go on unnoticed and eventually lead to serious illness and sadly sometimes death.
Blood Tests
Blood tests for our pets is very similar if not the same to those performed us when we visit a pathologist. With the use of our in-house laboratory and in some instances an external laboratory we are able to provide very accurate and timely information about the health of our patients. This is particularly important because unlike a doctor’s patient, our patients are not able to tell us where they feel unwell or have aches and pains. Blood tests are therefore very important in assisting our Veterinarians in diagnosing illnesses especially in our senior pets.
A general health profile (complete blood count) included in your VIP membership can effectively check the overall health of your pet. This blood test can check the level of white blood cells, conditions of anaemia, infection, parasites of the blood and even cancer.
In general, white blood cells multiply in their production when there is an infection in the pets body. If your pet has a blood test that indicates a high level of white blood cells, it's a good indication that your pet has an infection somewhere throughout the body. There are also certain parasites, similar to those found in the intestinal tract, which affect the blood can be picked up also.
Faecal Examination
One of the little less pleasant tasks of being a vet is performing a faecal examination, but this is a great window into the health of your pet from the inside.
The test is easily done by taking a small sample of your pets poo (or the correct vet’ terminology is stool) and testing it diagnostically. This type of test allows the faeces to be examined under microscopic conditions. As any worms or bacteria that may live in your dog's stool are microscopic and there would be no other way to accurately diagnose such conditions without the use of this faecal test.
A faecal examination is always used in cats and dogs when internal parasites are suspected, although it's also a common practice during many veterinary examinations. Some of the parasites that can be detected with a faecal examination include tapeworm, hookworm, roundworms and whipworms.
Urinalysis
Urinalysis is the process of testing a urine sample, your veterinarian will look at the white blood cell count and for any bacteria and crystals.
An elevated amount of white blood cells in the urine indicate an infection. If they're detected in the urine, this inform the veterinarian that there is inflammation and either an infection of the bladder or kidneys.
Under normal conditions, there is a certain amount of good bacteria found which lives in the pets urinary tract. However, if a urinalysis shows that the level of bacteria in your pet's urinary tract is highly elevated, it can indicate that the problem, maybe a urinary infection, If this is the case, a further culture test can be requested next to determine what type of bacteria is present, thus determining which method of treatment should be used.
If there are crystal-like formations in the urine, this will inform your veterinarian that there are stones in the bladder or kidneys. These crystals are normally present in the urine, but when they begin to join together, they actually form crystal-like stones. These stones can cause a tremendous amount of pain and discomfort for your pet and will need treatment to be removed.