Veterinary Technology

Our Diagnostic Services 

With our in-house veterinary diagnostics lab, our veterinary team is pleased to offer advanced diagnostic testing to allow our vets to provide an accurate diagnosis of your pet's medical issues.

• Radiography (Digital X-rays)

  Using a radiograph (digital X-ray), we can examine your pet's internal systems to reveal information that may be invisible from the outside. 

  Radiography is safe, painless, and non-invasive. It uses only very low doses of radiation. Because the level of radiation exposure required to perform radiography is very low, even pregnant females and very young pets can undergo this procedure. 

  Radiographs can be used to evaluate bones and organs, and diagnose conditions including broken bones, chronic arthritis, bladder stones, spinal cord diseases, and some tumors. 

• Bloodwork

  At our vet lab in Citrus Heights we are able to run a number of common and specialized blood tests to determine the health of your pet and to diagnose illness.

  Some of the most common veterinary blood tests we do are CBC (complete blood count), white blood count, hemoglobin and MCHC (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration), hematocrit, platelets, eosinophils, and blood serum profile. 

• Urinalysis

  Urinalysis is a key diagnostic test that provides your vet with essential insights into the physical and chemical properties of your pet's urine.

  Urinalysis is primarily used to assess the health of your animal's kidneys and urinary tract system, but it can also be helpful in detecting issues in other organ systems and is important for diagnosing metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

  This is a valuable diagnostic test for both healthy and sick animals and should be included in any comprehensive evaluation of your pet's overall health. 

• Fecal Exams

  Fecal exams are microscopic examinations of your pet's feces, which can be done at our in-house vet lab in Citrus Heights.

  The ultimate goal of a fecal exam is to identify and treat any GI infections that could be compromising your pet's health and even the health of your family. Fecals allow your vet to determine if your pet has intestinal parasites such as roundworms or hookworms. 

  Parasites can make pets uncomfortable, irritable, and lead to more serious conditions. Some can even be transmitted to humans.

  Since these parasites live in your pet’s gastrointestinal tract, they are often hidden from view. The only way to detect them is with a fecal exam.

  Annual fecal examines should be a vital part of every pet's routine wellness exam.  

• Biopsy

  In a biopsy, a skin sample or a small portion of a mass is taken for analysis. This procedure helps our veterinarians diagnose dermatological conditions and some cancers in cats and dogs.

• Cytology

  Cytology is a non-invasive, microscopic examination of cell samples collected from a cat or dog's body. This is done in order to collect preliminary information about a pet's medical condition.

  This can be performed to diagnose masses or growths on the surface of an animal's body as well as assess fluids and internal organs (kidney, liver, lung).