Advanced Diagnostics & Therapeutic Services
Our hospital is equipped to provide diagnostic and therapeutic services to care for your pet’s complete healthcare needs.
We use radiology techniques and an in-house laboratory to determine if there are any health problems currently impacting your pet or if your pet is at risk for any complications in the future.
In-House Laboratory
Our in-house laboratory is equipped with the latest diagnostic technology so we can offer complete blood counts and organ function testing, urinalysis and parasitology screenings.
Additionally, we use an outside facility to perform other testing, including:
- Hematology
- Urinalysis
- Specialized blood profiles
- Microbiology
- Allergy testing
- Parasitology
- Histopathology and cytology
Digital Radiography (X-rays)
At Crestview Veterinary Hospital, we use digital X-rays to examine your pet’s bones, lungs, heart, abdomen, oral cavity and other areas and for diagnosing and monitoring many medical and surgical conditions. If we suspect your pet has a fractured bone, has swallowed a foreign object or is suffering from a heart problem, an X-ray can tell us what we need to know.
To provide you with the highest quality veterinary care for your pet, we have two standard digital X-ray units and two digital dental X-ray machines. Advantages to digital X-rays include:
- They can be viewed immediately on a computer monitor.
- The clear, detailed images can be manipulated to get a better view of your pet’s bones and internal organs, leading to a faster and more accurate diagnosis.
- They take less time to process, which means less time for your pet on the X-ray table (and less stress), and less waiting time for you.
- No harsh chemicals are needed to develop the images, reducing potential harm to staff and the environment.
- If a second opinion is necessary, digital X-rays can be sent to a specialist by email.
Advanced diagnostic capabilities are an extremely important part of veterinary medicine because we can’t simply ask patients what is wrong. The hospital’s investment in digital X-ray technology reflects our commitment to offering you and your pet the best, most comprehensive veterinary healthcare available.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a painless, safe, non-invasive procedure that we use to evaluate your pet’s internal organs. Using sound waves, ultrasound produces a real-time moving picture of your pet’s organs that allows us to visualize objects that cannot be detected by X-rays alone.
At Crestview Veterinary Hospital, we use ultrasounds to assess the shape, size, tissue density, internal structure, and position of your pet’s abdominal organs, assess cardiac health (also called an echocardiogram), and diagnose pregnancy. It can also be used to identify masses or tumors and as a guide during surgical biopsies.
The ultrasound procedure takes between 30 to 60 minutes to perform and, unless it is being used during a surgical biopsy, does not typically require sedation. A diagnosis based on what we see is usually available immediately, which means we can also provide you with treatment options at the time of your appointment and minimize your worry and stress. It is one of the many ways we strive to give you peace of mind when it comes to your pet’s health.
Have questions about diagnostics or want to make an appointment for your pet? Call us at (828) 659-2060.
