Laboratory Diagnostics

Our lab is well-equipped for all of the diagnostic tests your pet needs to stay healthy, and to help us uncover mysteries when they’re not feeling well. We’re able to run tests quickly in-house when a rapid diagnosis is required, as well as get more comprehensive analyses from our outside lab partners.

A female veterinarian of black ethnicity uses a penlight to examine a yellow bearded dragon with spiky scales

Why do we do routine diagnostics testing?

Routine diagnostics screening is done to proactively identify any potential health issues early on and help ensure your dog or cat’s long-term health. By regularly checking for potential problems, even if our pets are not displaying any symptoms, we can catch diseases in their earliest stages when treatment will be most effective. We always recommend annual testing as part of your wellness visit to catch any potential issues before they become more serious, but diagnostics testing is also vital to the treatment of health issues or disease when your pet is sick.

What types of diagnostics tests do you run on dogs and cats?

BLOODWORK gives us important insight into numerous aspects of your pet’s health. A Complete Blood Count (CBC) measures the number of red and white blood cells and platelets. This blood chemistry panel looks for irregularities in organ function (such as the kidneys and liver), detects infections, anemia, dehydration, blood disorders, and immune response. Blood chemistry can show us if your pet has any nutrient deficiencies, and if any enzymes, electrolytes, minerals, or hormone levels are either too low, or too high.

Bloodwork is also important to have done prior to any surgical procedure to determine whether your pet is healthy enough to undergo anesthesia without major complications.

FECAL TESTING is used to diagnose issues that affect the digestive tract, and to check whether your pet has any internal parasites such as worms, or giardia. Sometimes, your dog or cat may not display any symptoms, but it’s important to treat them as soon as possible to prevent any issues to long-term health or development. Most parasites can also easily be transmitted to other pets, and even human family members.

The fecal sample will also be checked for color, consistency, and the presence of blood or mucus. Learn how to collect a fecal sample for your pet’s visit below.

URINALYSIS provides vital information about the health of our pets’ kidneys and urinary systems. It’s used to diagnose conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs), diabetes, metabolic disorders, kidney or bladder disease, and the presence of crystals or stones that can lead to obstruction. Urinary issues can be serious in pets, but are often easily treated once diagnosed.

HEARTWORM TESTING is required annually, even if your pet is on preventatives. We also test your pet for any tick-borne diseases at this time. While preventatives are your best line of defense, they are not always foolproof, and many diseases may not show symptoms for several months after infection. Heartworm disease is deadly, and it’s important that your pet gets the treatment they need as early as possible.

CYTOLOGY is the analysis of cells. It could include looking at discharge or cellular debris to diagnose an infection (such as an ear or skin infection). A biopsy or fine needle aspirate (FNA) can evaluate any lumps, bumps, or masses to look for cancerous cells.

Cropped photo of a hand using a black bag to pick up dog waste from the grass while a small black and white dog waits.

How to Collect a Poo Sample

The easiest way for us to do a fecal test, is if you are able to bring a sample with you to your appointment whenever possible. If there are multiple pets in the home (cats sharing a litter box, or dogs sharing an outside yard), make sure the sample you’re collecting is from the correct pet getting tested.

  • Keep it fresh — The sample should be collected as soon as possible after your pet goes poo, and ideally within 12-hours of your appointment time. Keep it in the fridge (not the freezer!) until your visit.

  • Pack it up — You can pick up a container from our office, but a clean, sealable Tupperware or regular poo bag also works just fine! Try to avoid collecting any dirt, grass, or litter with the sample, as much as possible

  • Put a label on it — Write your pet’s name, as well as the date and time of collection on the container.

  • We don’t need much! — Try to get a sample that’s at least the size of a quarter. More is fine!

How to Collect a Urine Sample

From a Dog

  • Plan ahead — The sample should be collected from your dog’s first morning urination, and within 6-hours of their appointment time. Keep it in the fridge (not the freezer!) until your visit.

  • Pack it up — You can pick up a urine collection kit from our office, or any clean, resealable container will do (a square Tupperware with a wide opening works great)!

    Place the tray or container under your dog as they start to urinate. Pour the contents of the tray into the sample collection cup (or put a lid on your clean container from home).

  • Put a label on it — Write your dog’s name, as well as the date and time of collection on the container.

  • We don’t need much! — Try to get a sample that’s at least one teaspoon. More is fine!

From a Cat

  • Plan ahead — Pick up non-absorbent litter from our office. Clean your cat’s litterbox with soap and water, and then fill it with the special litter.

    If there are multiple cats in the home, keep each cat in their own room with their own litterbox. Samples collected from the first morning urination will be most accurate!

  • Pack it up — As soon as possible after you know your cat has urinated, use the syringe to pull up the urine from the litterbox, and transfer it into the sample cup.

    The sample should be returned to us with within 6-hours of collection. Keep it in the fridge (not the freezer!) until your visit.

  • Put a label on it — Write your cat’s name, as well as the date and time of collection on the container.

  • We don’t need much! — Try to get a sample that’s at least one teaspoon. More is fine!

Some pets can be anxious about urine collection. If you’re unable to get a clean sample we can collect one at the hospital. This is a quick procedure that uses a sterile needle to collect the urine directly from your pet’s bladder.

Young brown and black kitten looks from a blue and white litterbox full of pellets.

Common Parasites Found in Pets

Roundworms

Long and tube-shaped, roundworms are the most common gastrointestinal worm found in dogs. They can also be transmitted to humans.

Hookworms

Hookworms attach themselves to the wall of the small intestine with sharp, hook-like mouths. They can detach and reattach, leaving behind small bleeding ulcers. Untreated, hookworms can quickly lead to severe and life-threatening anemia.

Whipworms

While some pets may show no clinical signs, whipworms most commonly cause bloody diarrhea. Whipworm eggs are extremely hardy and can live in the soil for many years. If your dog is commonly infected with whipworms, we might recommend using an alternate monthly preventive designed to cover them.

Giardia

Giardia is not a worm, but a simple, one-celled parasitic species that primarily causes diarrhea in infected dogs.

Coccidia

Another simple parasitic species, coccidia most commonly affects puppies. While coccidia can infect multiple species, one species cannot infect another. So, cats cannot infect dogs, and dogs cannot infect humans.

Toxoplasma

Cats are the definitive hosts for this organism, but rarely experience disease from it. They are most commonly get it by eating infected prey, or other raw meat. Daily cleaning of the litterbox is important to control the spread of toxoplasmosis to immunocompromised individuals, or pregnant women.

Tapeworms

Named for their long, flattened bodies that resemble a tape (or ribbon), tapeworms are transmitted to pets when they swallow infected fleas or lice—usually when grooming their fur, or nibbling where the fleas are biting and making them itchy. Tapeworms are easily prevented by controlling the flea population and keeping your pets on regular flea and tick preventives.

Heartworms

A serious and potentially fatal disease caused by parasitic worms that live in the heart and lungs of infected pets. Transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitos, this disease is prevalent in eastern North Carolina. Luckily, monthly preventives are effective in eliminating this parasite in its larval stage, before it can develop.

Cytauxzoonosis

While primarily found in the wild, this tick-borne parasite is now an important emerging disease in outdoor domestic cats, and early diagnosis and treatment is critical to survival. While we believe all cats should only be indoor cats, cats that recover from this disease MUST be kept indoors, so as to not become a source of infection for other cats.

Pet Laboratory Diagnostics Questions

You might be wondering…

Puppies and kittens should have a fecal test at least twice before they turn a year old, since they are more susceptible to parasites. If either of those tests comes back positive they might need to have additional tests done, until the parasites are cleared up. Adult pets should be tested annually. Your pet may need more frequent testing if they are experiencing gastrointestinal issues or have been exposed to other animals with potential parasite infections.

Tests that can be run on our in-house analyzers like CBC, basic blood chemistry, and urinalysis are usually ready in 10 minutes or less. Some blood tests require more time, and will take 15-20 minutes to receive results. Tests that have to be sent off to our reference lab, like a thyroid or advanced blood chemistry panel, are typically back within 2-3 days. Results from cultures and biopsies can take a week or more to come back.

In most cases, intestinal worms remain in the body and are not shed with the stool. Instead, the worms lay microscopic eggs that are what actually gets shed into the environment through the stool. The eggs are what we are searching for in a fecal test!

Heartworm preventives can often also protect against parasitic infections, although there are exceptions. Not all preventives are designed to cover all types of intestinal worms. For example, ivermectin-based preventives (like Heartgard) don’t protect against whipworms. Breakthrough infections can also still occur, so it’s important that even pets diligently receiving their preventives get tested regularly.

Pets don’t have to eat feces to get infected with worms or parasites. While commonly found in feces, microscopic eggs can also live for long periods in soil and water. When these eggs transfer to their paws or fur, your pet can be infected when they ingest them during normal grooming or licking. Parasites can also be transmitted to your pet through infected prey, or by coming into contact with other infected animals, including certain insects.

Yes, you do! While fleas, ticks, and mosquitos are less active in the winter months, they don’t simply die off and can still be a threat to your pet’s health. Fleas can survive temperatures as low as 33°F, and some species of ticks as low as 32°F. Mosquito eggs laid in the fall remain in a state of diapause until it’s warm enough to hatch. With our mild Carolina winters, all it takes is a few warm nights for them to become active again, and it only takes a single bite from an infected mosquito to spread heartworms. Don’t gamble with your pet’s health—keep them on their preventives year-round. The extra cost of a few months’ medication is only a fraction of what it would cost to treat the disease.

As soon as you realize you missed a dose of your pet’s heartworm preventive, you should immediately resume giving the medication as normal, and contact us to discuss next steps. If it’s been more than 6-weeks between doses, we will need to schedule you for a heartworm test in 6-months to ensure your dog did not become infected during this time. In the meantime, set a monthly reminder for yourself and maintain your regular administration schedule.

Heartworm disease is a serious, and progressive, disease so early detection is critical to the success of treatment. Because the cost of treatment is high, and complex, multiple tests will be used to confirm the diagnosis before treatment is started. While it may be difficult to do, it’s important to restrict exercise because physical exertion increases the rate at which the heartworms can do damage. The treatment process can take several months to complete, but without treatment, the disease is almost always fatal.

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Modern Pet Care

With all new, top-of-the-line equipment and a gorgeous new facility, we’re modernizing the entire pet care experience. Our hybrid primary-and-emergency care model eliminates day-to-ER transfers, reducing stress on both pets and owners, while also allowing for consistency in treatment planning and standard of care.