Pet Labs & Bloodwork Alpharetta, GA

Small animal internal medicine looks at the inside of your pet’s body to diagnose, treat, and manage certain health conditions and diseases. Some aspects of internal medicine are included in your pet’s normal well care, just like when you go to the doctor. However, other internal medicine elements may be recommended if your pet becomes ill or is diagnosed with a health problem.

At Midway Animal Hospital, we have state-of-the art new laboratory equipment and diagnostic equipment that allows us to do many lab tests onsite. Rest assured that whatever your pet needs, we will make sure to get it done. Don’t believe us? Read our Midway Animal Hospital reviews.

Typical reasons more in-depth work up is needed include:

• Changes in eating, decreased appetite
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Sudden or unexplained weight loss or weight gain
• Difficulty swallowing
• Trouble urinating or defecating
• Dehydration
• Seizures, loss of consciousness, or collapse
• Lethargy or abrupt change in behavior
• Depression
• Swollen joints
• Respiratory problems, like coughing and sneezing
  Pre-existing chronic illness

When you see our veterinarian for a sick patient consultation, we will examine your pet and run tests to diagnose the problem. Conditions often discovered via sick patient appointments include the following:

• Diabetes
• Gastrointestinal disease
• Respiratory disease or infections (like Pneumonia or Kennel cough)
• Heart disease
• Liver disease
• Hyperthyroidism (cats)
• Hypothyroidism (dogs)
• Renal (kidney) disease
• Pancreatitis
• Immune system disease
• Urinary system infections
• Canine influenza
• Leptospirosis
• Toxoplasmosis
• Anemia
• Cancer

Benefits of Lab Work for Pets

When you go to the doctor, you can tell them about where it hurts or how you feel. However, your pet can’t tell the vet where it hurts. This makes pet labs essential for keeping your fur baby happy and healthy. When your new pet arrives at the vet’s office for its first check-up, your vet may advise you to have bloodwork for dogs and cats done to determine the animal’s overall health. There are many benefits for lab work for dogs and lab work for cats, including:

• Baseline: Your first pet lab work in Alpharetta sets a baseline for your pet’s overall health. As your pet ages, your vet uses the results from the first lab work for dog and cat lab work in Alpharetta as a start point to determine the pet’s health as it ages. 
• Detailed information on the pet’s condition: From the level of hydration to the amount of sodium in their blood, the lab work for pets can tell about any unusual conditions they might have.
• Help diagnose your pet’s condition: If your cat or dog hasn’t seemed like themselves lately, and there are no obvious signs, your vet may want to do lab or bloodwork to help make or confirm a diagnosis. This is essential for treating the pet properly. You don’t want to give your dog or cat medication they don’t need. 
• Underlying conditions: As part of a regular check-up, your vet might recommend dog bloodwork or cat bloodwork to check on their overall health. This lab work might reveal an underlying condition, such as problems with their kidneys or liver function. It might show health issues before symptoms become obvious to the pet’s owner. 

Most Common Lab Tests for Pets

Your vet may recommend that you run pet labs for a variety of reasons, but there are always benefits to these tests. Your vet recommends them as a way of keeping your pet healthy. 

Your vet runs cat and dog labs and bloodwork for a variety of reasons, and there are many tests that can be run. Here’s a look at the three most common:

1. CBC

You may have heard this term from medical dramas on television, but it’s a real test. In some cases, the veterinarian may recommend this test before spaying or neutering your puppy or kitten because it can reveal problems your pet may have under anesthesia. Other information a CBC shows includes:

• Hydration status
• Anemia
• Infection
• Blood clotting ability
• Immune system response
• and more.

Of course, the vet recommends this pet lab work if they see specific symptoms, such as:

• Diarrhea
• Weakness
• Pale gums
• Loss of appetite
• Fever
• Vomiting
• And more

2. Urinalysis Tests 

if your cat or dog isn’t feeling their best, your vet might recommend a urinalysis test to help determine the cause. This test looks at the pH level in your dog or cat’s urine to determine if your pet has a certain illness or to rule it out. Some things a urinalysis checks for includes:

• Red blood cells
• White blood cells
• Protein
• Bacteria
• Crystals
• Casts

The information from the dog labs or cat labs can help determine the cause of illness and lead to treatment.

3. Chemistry Panel

When your vet suspects your pup or kitty has a metabolic condition, they will ask for a chemistry panel. This looks at the blood chemistry of your pet. Here are some information that the vet finds from this test:

• Liver function
• Kidney function
• Protein levels
• Glucose levels
• Electrolyte levels  

At Midway Animal Hospital, we strive to help you keep your pet in the best of health at every age. Schedule an appointment for a pet exam, pet vaccinations, pet surgery, pet dental services, or grooming. If you have questions about other veterinary services please give our office a call. We’ll be happy to get the answers you need.