Veterinary Diagnostics for Dogs & Cats in Mint Hill, NC

Veterinary diagnostics give your pet a voice. While they can’t tell us exactly how they’re feeling, lab work, radiology and ultrasound all help us shed a light on any abnormalities or problems your pet may be facing. At Mint Hill Animal Hospital, we regularly rely on our diagnostic equipment to form a more thorough picture of your pet’s health.

Lab Testing

With our in-house lab, we’re able to get results in minutes. We use our own lab primarily for urgent care cases where an immediate result is essential to the treatment of your pet. For routine tests, we’ll send out the sample to an outside lab which reduces costs for you and allows us to get accurate results from the experts. Blood work plays an important role in your pet’s annual exam and helps us determine their baseline health as well as detect any underlying illnesses before there are any physical symptoms.

Some of the more common lab tests we send out for or perform ourselves include:

  • Complete blood counts (CBCs)
  • Blood chemistry panels
  • Fecal exams
  • Heartworm testing
  • Tick-borne illness testing
  • Cytology (skin tests)
  • Urinalysis

Digital X-Rays

Radiology allows us to see your pet’s skeletal structure as well as their abdominal cavity, which helps us diagnose conditions such as fractures, foreign body ingestion, joint conditions and injuries, and more. We use a digital X-ray machine that is far superior to its film predecessor.

Benefits of digital X-ray include:

  • Sharper images with higher contrast
  • Less of a need for repositioning your pet, which means a faster experience for them
  • Significantly less radiation exposure
  • The ability to send your pet’s X-ray files digitally to you or a specialist

Ultrasound

Ultrasound uses sound waves to create a live image. With it, we can view your pet’s organs and abdomen in real-time to detect and evaluate possible abnormalities. Commonly, we use ultrasound if we suspect heart, gastrointestinal, or urogenital problems. We are fortunate to be able to offer this level of diagnostics which may lessen the need for further care with a specialist.

cat getting ultrasound in Mint Hill, NC