Laboratory Testing

The first step after noticing your furry, feathered or scaly companion is not quite their usual self, is bringing them in to be checked over by a vet. Once the vet has discussed your pet’s problem with you and given them a full examination, the vet may suggest running some tests.

We can take blood samples, swabs of a suspected infection, and skin/tissue samples in the consultation room. Sometimes, we may be able to collect urine and faecal samples at the time: at other times you may be asked to collect these at home. Occasionally, we may need to sedate a patient to take a sample, for example if they are painful, or to make the procedure safer.

Blood tests

Blood tests can give us a much clearer idea of what is happening internally, such as how well the internal organs are functioning. Knowing whether the liver or kidneys are struggling can help us not only to treat a patient, but also to avoid using medications that could cause further damage to these vital organs.

Blood tests can also tell us if an animal is anaemic, has an infection, if there is an electrolyte (salt) imbalance, or if other organs such as the thyroid, parathyroid or pancreas are functioning normally.

There is no single blood test that suits every patient, so we may recommend a variety of blood tests depending on your pet’s presenting problem. It may be that your pet needs serial tests to look for active problems, or monitor resolution. Some blood tests may highlight another problem, so additional tests may then be required.

Urine tests

Urine tests can help to give a clearer picture of the renal and urinary systems, and to confirm some diagnoses. We can check the pH levels and assess the urine for the formation of crystals to help us to diagnose bladder stones. The specific gravity and protein levels help us to assess kidney function.

Checking for red and white blood cells, and for bacteria, help us to check for infections or possible damage to the bladder. Blood or other cells in the urine may also suggest a growth in the bladder.

The presence of glucose in the urine can alert us to the development of diabetes mellitus, whilst an extremely dilute urine could suggest diabetes insipidus.

We can perform many of these tests on-site, allowing rapid diagnosis and treatment of many conditions. We may also recommend sending the urine to an external laboratory, for example, to isolate a particular bacterial colony and allow us to target it with specific antibiotics.

Culture swabs

Taking swabs or samples where an infection is suspected means that we can try to find out exactly what is causing the reaction and discomfort for your pet. The sample can be grown in the laboratory and tested against different antibiotic treatments. Our treatment plan can then be tailored to make sure the medications will work, ensuring your pets are back to feeling comfortable as soon as possible.

Bacterial cultures take at least 3 days to grow, and some slow-growing populations can take up to 3 weeks to grow. These tests are therefore slightly longer than others, so your vet may suggest a cleaning regimen or supplementary treatments whilst awaiting results.

Faecal (stool) testing

Faecal samples may be requested so we can look for bacterial infections, parasite burdens and fungal infections. This may be in response to diarrhoea, vomiting, a sensitive tummy, abdominal discomfort, a history of blood in the stools, change of stool colour, or a change in appetite or feeding preferences.

Isolating the causative agent enables us to target the gut with the correct treatment, making your pet feel better and giving you peace of mind – and peaceful sleep.

Skin scrapes and biopsies

Pets presenting with itchy skin, lumps or growths may require skin testing. Often, we use a combination of blood tests, bacterial and fungal cultures, skin scrapes and biopsies.

Skin scrapes are literally what they sound like: we scrape a little skin away from an affected area for testing. This allows us to check for external parasites such as lice and mites, as well as bacterial or fungal causes.

Biopsies come in different forms:

Fine needle aspirates: we introduce a needle into a lump or lesion, and aspirate (suck up) some of the cells into the needle hub. This only gives us a very small sample, but 80% of these samples yield a meaningful result, and the test can usually be performed in a conscious patient.
Wedge or punch biopsies involve us taking a small segment of a problem area, and submitting the tissue to the laboratory for culture and histopathology. This can sometimes be performed under local anaesthetic, but frequently requires sedation or general anaesthesia. The segment is analysed, helping us to know whether further treatment is required or whether the area will self-resolve.
Trucut biopsies are taken of internal organs, such as the liver, through the body wall, usually with ultrasound guidance. These are performed under sedation or local anaesthesia, and allow us to sample an accessible internal organ before proceeding to full surgery.
Excisional biopsies involve us removing an entire area of concern, with wide margins around it. This enables us to fully remove potentially cancerous areas. We recommend sending these lumps for histopathological analysis, to give us an idea of prognosis for your pet and work out any additional treatments required.

Without access to the information that these tests provide us, we may not be able to accurately treat your pet(s). We could use an antibiotic that the bacteria are resistant to, medications that could adversely affect already struggling organs, or only treat the symptoms and not the cause. This could lead to your pet’s health and quality of life worsening rather than improving, which is not what any of us want for them.

Which tests can we perform at the clinic?

Blood tests: we have a biochemistry analyser, which allows us to run some profiles and single tests on blood samples. This means that we can have results on the same or the following day that a sample was taken on. We can run profiles for dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, birds and reptiles. These profiles and single tests are designed to check the enzyme levels in the blood related to the liver and kidneys, salt balances, calcium levels, cholesterol levels, thyroid levels, glucose levels and phenobarbital levels. They also check protein levels, the pancreas, and alert us to possible underlying problems. We can also run a test known as a PCV (packed cell volume). This tells us the percentage of red blood cells in the plasma, alerting us to anaemia and possible causes of bleeding.

Urine: dipstick and specific gravity are available on-site, as well as sediment examination. We use a refractometer to measure the concentration of the urine. The dipstick tells us a variety of information such as pH, the presence of blood or urine, and the presence of proteins. Slide analysis of residues enables us to assess the urine for blood cells, bacteria and crystals.

Faeces: we can perform faecal worm egg counts for birds and reptiles as well as mammals. This allows us to determine if your pet has an internal parasite burden requiring treatment.

Which tests do we send to an external laboratory?

We work closely with a skilled and trusted external laboratory, to ensure that all the information we require to diagnose and treat your pets is readily accessible. Depending on the test being performed, we can have results back within 24 hours. Some tests such as culture and sensitivity, that require the laboratory to grow a bacteria or fungus and test for medication resistance and susceptibility, take 7-10 days for results. We will inform you at the time of sampling what the expected time frame for results is.

The external laboratory runs a wide range of tests. Some of the more commonly used ones are listed below, but are by no means exhaustive.

Haematology: assesses the levels and structure of the red and white blood cells in a sample.
Pancreatic lipase: we would run this if we are concerned about pancreatitis or triaditis.
Cardiac profiles: help us to assess the heart.
Full faecal analysis: these tests vary depending on the species, but can check for parasites, bacterial and fungal infections.
Urine culture and sensitivity.
Ionised calcium levels.
Cytology and histopathology of skin and tissue samples.
Allergy testing for both environmental and food stimuli.