Diagnostic Services
X-Ray
Over the past few years veterinary X-rays have become far more powerful and useful than ever before, principally because they can now be taken digitally and displayed immediately on a computer. This means that your veterinarian can quickly take a highly detailed image and then manipulate it to gain a better view of your pet's bones and internal organs. The result is that diagnosing a very wide range of medical conditions is made faster and far more accurate than ever before.
Because Wilmington Animal Hospital believes that pet owners deserve the best possible care, we have a state-of-the-art digital veterinary X-ray machine. For complex cases, we are able to easily share these images with a board certified radiologist.
The Advantages
of Digital Veterinary X-Rays
- Digital x-rays can be saved to a disk and given to you as part of your pet's home medical record.
- Images can be quickly shared via email with specialists when a second opinion or additional diagnosis is needed.
- Your pet's time on the X-ray table is reduced because fewer images need to be taken.
- Digital X-rays eliminate the need to use toxic chemicals in the film development process, decreasing the risk of exposure to our staff and the environment.
Tonometer
Glaucoma doesn't only affect humans; your pet can develop it too. Glaucoma is a condition in which the fluid pressure inside the eye increases to a point where the optic nerve is damaged, causing loss of vision and blindness. Glaucoma is relatively common in animals and can develop as your pet ages—this is known as chronic glaucoma—or as the result of an injury or illness—this is known as acute glaucoma.
In many cases glaucoma can progress quite rapidly—especially when it is the result of injury or underlying illness—and is considered an emergency situation. Symptoms to look for include:
- Redness in the eye
- Tearing or discharge
- Eye sensitivity to light
- Pain
- The eye may look cloudy
- Bulging eyeball
Your veterinarian uses an instrument called a Tonometer to measure the fluid pressure inside your pet's eyes. It is a noninvasive procedure that should not cause your pet any pain or discomfort, though your veterinarian will apply a mild anesthetic eye drop to ensure your pet is comfortable during the exam.
Ear Care
It is not uncommon for pets to suffer from a number of ear maladies that require a fast and accurate diagnosis in order to treat them before they become more severe. Therefore, an otoscope is a very important tool for your veterinarian to have.
This type of scope allows your veterinarian to examine your pet's ears for mites, infections, hair balls and other foreign objects lodged in the ear, as well as damage to the ear canal and ear drum. Checking the health of the ear drum also provides important information as to the health of the middle ear, which is where the mechanisms for hearing and balance are located. An otoscope also allows your veterinarian to flush and remove any infectious material from your pet's ears.
Electrocardiography
Electrocardiograms (ECG) are snapshots of how your pet's heart functions. These are very helpful at detecting numerous types of arrhythmias as well as a handful of other cardiac conditions that can be difficult to identify through a stethoscope. You probably have seen an ECG machine—also known as an EKG machine—or have had one of these tests in your doctor's office as they are commonly used to test for and diagnose common heart conditions in humans.
Electrocardiography can also be used during surgery to help monitor your pet's heart function.
An ECG test is a noninvasive procedure that involves simply connecting a handful of electrodes to your pet's skin. The machine will read the electrical impulses coming from the heart as the heart works to pump blood and provide a graph for your veterinarian to read. If we notice any abnormalities, we will explain them to you and advise you on the next steps.
Our Lab
One of the most important aspects of any preventative medicine regimen is the ability to analyze how well your pet's internal organs and processes are functioning. For example, are the kidneys and liver doing their jobs at removing waste from the blood stream? Does your pet have internal parasites? Is a growth on your pet's skin benign?
Laboratory testing allows your veterinarian to gain a view inside your pet's body in order to assess overall systemic health without the need for invasive and expensive procedures. This is why Wilmington Animal Hospital maintains an in-house laboratory and works with major outside veterinary laboratories. We regularly test your pet during wellness exams or when we suspect your pet may have a health issue. Our in-house laboratory allows us to perform urinalysis, ringworm cultures, blood chemistry testing, heartworm detection, feline leukemia and feline immunovirus deficiency virus screens, ear cytology, and more. In some cases, we can receive results within minutes.
We will also perform lab testing prior to procedures that require anesthesia so that we can be sure your pet will not have an adverse reaction.