Every owner hopes their pets live long, healthy, and happy lives. Taking your pets in for regular examinations at the veterinarian will help with this. However, a veterinarian won’t fully understand their  health without diagnostic tests. It’s possible that pets, like people, have outward appearances that belie more subdued emotions. However, if the vet has access to reliable diagnostic testing, they may be able to catch a problem early and treat it. A few of the diagnostic procedures your pet should undergo are as follows:

Clinical Chemistry

Clinical chemistry analyzes a specimen’s chemical composition. Examination of other bodily fluids is also possible. The sample is often the blood’s plasma (serum or plasma). The health of several organs can be determined using clinical chemistry testing (kidneys, liver, etc.).

Diseases like diabetes and pancreatitis may benefit from their use in diagnosis. Your pet’s response to treatment during a dog or cat checkup can also be evaluated with these tests.

Cytology

The study of single cells, including how they form, what they do, and when they die, is called cytology. Pathologists can provide valuable insight to veterinarians about the cells in your pet’s body. Using a fine-needle biopsy, tissue or fluid samples are taken, and then slides are made and stained for microscopic inspection to identify the cell types present.

Fluid Analysis

Besides blood, the fluid analysis looks at other bodily fluids (urine, joint fluid, etc.). Specialists in analyzing body fluids work closely with others to assess an animal’s health. Fluid analysis often entails a search for cellular components and protein markers. Clinical chemistry tests may also be performed to check for the presence of certain drugs.

Hematology

Red blood cells, white blood cells, and also platelets are the biological components of blood studied by hematologists. The most typical blood test is called a complete blood count. Finding out how many and what kinds of cells are floating around in your bloodstream can tell you a lot about your risk for anemia, inflammation, and blood clots.

Histology

The discipline of histology examines the microscopic anatomy (structure) of different types of plant and animal tissues. Histopathologists are pathologists that specialize in analyzing small samples of tissue to evaluate whether or not the tissue is healthy. Because of their extensive research into diseases and their outcomes, pathologists can often determine what abnormalities in tissue or cells were initially responsible for.

When your vet in Hendersonville suspects cancer or another disease that causes tissue changes in your pet, he or she may often take small tissue samples to have analyzed by a pathologist.

Microbiology

Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other single-celled organisms are the primary subjects of research in the field of microbiology. Microbiologists in a veterinary clinic’s lab can run a battery of diagnostics to look for sickness in pets. As a first step, it is common practice to cultivate and then identify microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Serology

Serology studies body fluids such as blood serum and other secretions. Most serologic tests determine antibodies’ presence and reactivity to a particular pathogenic bacterium by measuring the titer. High antibodies, or an increase in antibody levels between samples taken a few weeks apart, suggest that your pet has been exposed to the bacterium and has generated antibodies to fight against the infection.

Toxicology

When dealing with a toxic substance, time is of the essence in making a diagnosis for the sake of your pet’s survival. Sometimes it’s necessary to send samples to an independent lab and their emergency services with the equipment and expertise to perform thorough testing for a larger range of toxins. Your vet may want you to bring in a sample of the substance your pet ingested.

Conclusion

Different veterinary technologies are used for different purposes by veterinarians, including disease diagnosis, disease monitoring, drug response monitoring, and screening healthy animals for underlying problems. The diagnostic laboratory at most animal hospitals is well-equipped with a wide range of diagnostic tools to rapidly assess your pet’s condition and decide the best course of treatment. When you notice unusual signs or behavior in your pets, make an appointment with a trustworthy clinic that offers these services.