Laboratory

Laboratory Services

Heartworm Test

Mill Valley Veterinary Clinic uses a combination snap test to test for heartworm. The test takes about 10 minutes to run and tests for four different diseases. Heartworm is a worm that lives in the heart and is spread by mosquitoes; this disease can cause heart failure. Lyme Disease is caused by a bacteria transmitted by ticks and can cause kidney failure and arthritis. Anaplasmosis is a disease caused by a bacterium and transmitted by ticks. Anaplasmosis can cause joint pain and can affect blood clotting. The final disease tested by the 4dx test is Ehrlichiosis. Ehrlichiosis is caused by a bacterium that can cause a low platelet count or a low number or red blood cells. This is also a bacteria transmitted by ticks.

A Combination Heartworm, Lyme Ehrlichia and Anaplasmosis also called a 4DX test. This test is positive for the two most common tick borne diseases we see: Lyme and Anaplasmosis.

Heartworm Treatment and Prevention

Heartworm is a parasite spread by mosquitoes. This worm migrates through the bloodstream and lives in the left ventricle chamber of the heart. Heartworm disease is treated with an arsenic based compound, which is injected into the back muscles of affected dogs. Treatment is expensive and painful. The clinic does its best to administer pain medication after treatment and sedation during the injections. While treatment is expensive, prevention is easy and affordable. The clinic offers proheart injections, which are given every six months by the doctors. In addition, there are also monthly chewable tablets that prevent heartworm and several parasites that live in the intestines. The clinic advises testing pets for heartworm every year as there have been positive heartworm cases in pets that are on heartworm preventative, in these uncommon cases the pharmaceutical companies have covered treatment provided the pet was receiving heartworm prevention. Owners may elect to test pets that have been on year round prevention every other year.

Fecal
Fecals are used to test for a variety of intestinal parasites in small animals. This test takes about 8 minutes to run.

Fecal Egg Count
Fecal egg counts are used to determine how many and what kind of parasites an animal may have. The goal of a fecal egg count is to determine if a worming program is effective. Then, if needed, the animal is dewormed. In three weeks, another sample is tested to determine if the dewormer was effective. It has been found that some animals are high shedders and others are low shedders and some animals are more inclined to carry high worm burdens. Knowing which animals in a herd are high shedding means that you can target deworming schedules to reduce the amount of parasites that the high shedders are producing. Fecal egg counts require a few extra steps and takes about 15 minutes to run.

Urinalysis
Urine carries a lot of information about the body, from kidney function to glucose level. The doctor’s use the information gathered helps to rule out or rule in anything from diabetes to bladder infections. There are two components to a urinalysis, a urine strip and urine sediment. The urine strip measures the presence of certain compounds from BUN to bilirubin. The clinic has a new machine that reads the urine strip, taking some of the human error out of the urinalysis. The second component is the urine sediment. This is when a sample is spun down in a centrifuge and examined under a microscope for things like crystals, bacteria and cells. The presence or absence and number of these items can indicate a variety of conditions that help the doctors make a diagnosis and select a medication. This test takes about 10 minutes to run.

CBC (Complete Blood Count)
CBC is a count of the different types of cells in a sample. This includes red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The information provided by the CBC helps doctors diagnose, treat and monitor the effectiveness of treatment in a variety of conditions.

Comprehensive Blood Profile
The comprehensive blood profile or the surgical blood profile, is a test that monitors kidney function, liver function and electrolytes among other things. This is an important profile for telling doctors how pets are metabolizing medications, including anesthesia.

Phenobarbital Level
The clinic is able to run Phenobarbital testing in house. This test requires sending a blood sample out to a lab located a few states away, then calling the owner and discussing the results. The owners stop back into the hospital if the medication needed to be adjusted. The test typically takes about 15 minutes. This means that it can be one stop and any medication adjustments can be made that same day. In addition, since the clinic does not have to send the samples out there is no shipping charge, so the cost of the test has decreased.

Progesterone Testing
The Mill Valley Veterinary Clinic recently purchased a machine that will read progesterone tests in house. This means that when you are preparing to breed your dog or cat, you can know within 20 minutes of your appointment if your pet is ready to breed or if you should wait.

Coggins Testing
Equine Infectious Anemia is a highly contagious viral disease. The signs include decreased platelet numbers, decreased red blood cells, swelling of the legs and decreased appetite. Equine Infectious Anemia is a disease transmitted by bloodsucking insects such as mosquitoes. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease. There is a test called a coggins test. A coggins test is required by most shows and before shipping a horse out of state. A coggins test is good for anywhere from 6 -24 months depending on the state and event. The clinic is pleased to offer electronic coggins. This test requires three photos of your horse, a front view and two side views.

Heartworm Test

Fecal

Fecals are used to test for a variety of intestinal parasites in small animals. This test takes about 8 minutes to run.

Fecal Egg Count

Fecal egg counts are used to determine how many and what kind of parasites an animal may have. The goal of a fecal egg count is to determine if a worming program is effective. Then, if needed, the animal is dewormed. In three weeks, another sample is tested to determine if the dewormer was effective. It has been found that some animals are high shedders and others are low shedders and some animals are more inclined to carry high worm burdens. Knowing which animals in a herd are high shedding means that you can target deworming schedules to reduce the amount of parasites that the high shedders are producing. Fecal egg counts require a few extra steps and takes about 15 minutes to run.

Urinalysis

Urine carries a lot of information about the body, from kidney function to glucose level. The doctor’s use the information gathered helps to rule out or rule in anything from diabetes to bladder infections. There are two components to a urinalysis, a urine strip and urine sediment. The urine strip measures the presence of certain compounds from BUN to bilirubin. The clinic has a new machine that reads the urine strip, taking some of the human error out of the urinalysis. The second component is the urine sediment. This is when a sample is spun down in a centrifuge and examined under a microscope for things like crystals, bacteria and cells. The presence or absence and number of these items can indicate a variety of conditions that help the doctors make a diagnosis and select a medication. This test takes about 10 minutes to run.

CBC (Complete Blood Count)

CBC is a count of the different types of cells in a sample. This includes red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The information provided by the CBC helps doctors diagnose, treat and monitor the effectiveness of treatment in a variety of conditions.

Comprehensive Blood Profile

The comprehensive blood profile or the surgical blood profile, is a test that monitors kidney function, liver function and electrolytes among other things. This is an important profile for telling doctors how pets are metabolizing medications, including anesthesia.

Phenobarbital Level

The clinic is able to run Phenobarbital testing in house. This test requires sending a blood sample out to a lab located a few states away, then calling the owner and discussing the results. The owners stop back into the hospital if the medication needed to be adjusted. The test typically takes about 15 minutes. This means that it can be one stop and any medication adjustments can be made that same day. In addition, since the clinic does not have to send the samples out there is no shipping charge, so the cost of the test has decreased.

Progesterone Testing

The Mill Valley Veterinary Clinic recently purchased a machine that will read progesterone tests in house. This means that when you are preparing to breed your dog or cat, you can know within 20 minutes of your appointment if your pet is ready to breed or if you should wait.

Coggins Testing

Equine Infectious Anemia is a highly contagious viral disease. The signs include decreased platelet numbers, decreased red blood cells, swelling of the legs and decreased appetite. Equine Infectious Anemia is a disease transmitted by bloodsucking insects such as mosquitoes. There is no vaccine or treatment for the disease. There is a test called a coggins test. A coggins test is required by most shows and before shipping a horse out of state. A coggins test is good for anywhere from 6 -24 months depending on the state and event. The clinic is pleased to offer electronic coggins. This test requires three photos of your horse, a front view and two side views.