At our Epping hospital in Essex, we have a well-equipped onsite laboratory. This allows us to run blood and urine tests with a same-day turnaround or even while you wait.
We have specialised machines which allow us to check for pancreatitis, heart disease, acid-base disorders and calcium instead of relying on external laboratories for this, meaning we can make diagnoses much more quickly. We also have bedside 'SNAP' tests for immediate detection of the lungworm parasite, which is increasingly common in our area, and certain cat viruses.
At Forest Vets we have a microscope for in house cytology, as well as an advanced system that allows us to upload digital images of microscope slides to be reviewed by a board-certified pathologist remotely with a turnaround time of less than 4 hours. An artificial intelligence programme can also assess blood smears.
Limited laboratory testing is available at the branches and some samples will be sent to an external veterinary laboratory.
