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Wellness, Emergency and Pre Anesthetic Lab Testing

Valley Veterinary Clinic Pet Lodge and Salon is pleased to offer bloodwork as a part of wellness testing, in emergency situations, and for clients undergoing anesthesia.

Overview

At Valley Veterinary Clinic we take a diagnostic based and preventative approach to our patients care. Diagnostic blood work will allow better treatment outcomes and wellness testing helps us find issues before they may become a real and more expensive problem. We have both our own in house lab suite, as well as an outside reference lab we use.

PRE-ANESTHETIC BLOOD TESTING

When your pet is scheduled for a procedure that requires anesthesia, we recommend pre-anesthetic blood testing for your pet prior to placing him/her under anesthesia.

Our first concern will always be your pet’s health. Before placing your pet under anesthesia, a veterinarian will perform a complete physical examination to identify any existing medical conditions that could complicate the procedure and compromise the health of your pet. As in human medicine, while the physical exam is important, it cannot provide a complete picture of a pet’s physical condition. Consequently, we strongly recommend a pre-anesthetic profile (a combination of tests) be performed prior to the anesthesia. The tests we recommend are similar to an equally as important as those your own physician would run if you were to undergo anesthesia. While these tests do not guarantee the absence of complications, they do minimize the possibility of complications during and after anesthesia. Our goal is to provide you and your family with the peace of mind you expect and deserve.

The combination of blood tests we recommend is listed below:

BUN, ALT, Sodium, Creatinine, Glucose, Potassium, ALKP, Total Protein, Chloride, CBC. The veterinarian may request a blood panel be sent to our outside lab. This panel is known as a Wellness Panel and is more in depth than our in-house panel. Your veterinarian will discuss which panel is best for your pet’s procedure.

While the choice is yours, we feel strongly that a pre-anesthetic profile is very important to your pet’s health. You will be asked to accept or decline the pre-anesthetic blood testing when you sign the consent form on the day of surgery. Junior Wellness tests act as a pre-anesthetic test as well.

Again, please call us if you want to talk about the tests or your pet’s upcoming procedure. We’re here to assist you and take good care of you and your pet.

WELLNESS TESTING

We believe strongly in annual or periodic wellness tests. We can do a physical exam but for a complete picture of your pet’s health, we advise wellness testing (blood work). For pets under 7 years we recommend Junior Wellness testing, which is combined in part with a heartworm test for dogs and for cats it includes a T4 Thyroid Screen.

Why do we do this?

Best case scenario- all is normal and it gives us a baseline for future reference! Quite often we pick up issues we would normally not recognize until a crisis, thus we can be proactive.

For pets greater than 8 years of age, we do Senior Wellness testing annually, which is a bit more comprehensive. Remember dogs and cats are considered a “senior” at this age.

A doctor will personally call you with the results typically within 48 hours. We will also send or email you a copy of the test results for your file along with a sheet describing the test. We feel this service and personalization will add quality and quantity to your pet’s life. Our wellness tests are at a discounted price when sent out to our outside reference lab.

 

EMERGENCY BLOODWORK

For these occasions we need answers fast, like 10 -15 minutes, we use our in-house lab work capabilities. These services can literally be lifesaving.

We truly are a Full Service Hospital for your 4 legged friends!