Laboratory Services
What laboratory services can you provide in-house?
When your pet is sick, waiting for answers can be difficult. At Lake Ontario Veterinary Clinic, we offer a wide variety of in-house laboratory diagnostics in order to provide rapid, accurate laboratory results to help diagnose your pet’s illness so that we can initiate effective treatment as soon as possible. Common laboratory tests we can perform in-house include complete blood counts, various chemistry panels, urinalysis, and fecal analysis. Our in-house lab is also equipped for cytologic exams (microscopic examination of cells) from samples collected from skin lesions, ear swabs, lumps, bodily fluids, and other sites throughout the body.
What if my pet needs a test your in-house lab cannot run?
When our in-house lab cannot provide the specialized testing that your pet needs, we have access to multiple reference laboratory facilities to help get you the quickest, most accurate results.
Why do you recommend routine “screening” bloodwork?
Unfortunately, our pets often cannot tell us when they aren’t feeling well. Your pet may appear perfectly healthy on the outside but inside they may be dealing with an illness and have no way of showing it. Some pets are particularly good at masking symptoms of illness as a survival instinct. For this reason, Lake Ontario Veterinary Clinic recommends routine laboratory screening tests for many mature adult and senior pets to help establish a baseline of your pet’s “normal” and rapidly identify health problems when they arise in order to begin treatment as soon as possible. We typically also recommend routine laboratory screening before surgical or dental procedures that require anesthesia.