Resources for Vets
All Animal Groups: All Testing Services
Submission Tips:
Motivation for the submission of fresh blood smears
Why fresh smears are so IMPORTANT Fresh smears allow for better assessment of cell morphology. Some key reasons include: When…
TSE Incentivised Programme Update For Vets.
If fresh spinal cord is not included as part of the submission there will be no payment to the farmer…
Microbiologists are amazing but they are not miracle workers!
Getting the best from Microbiology We think of microbiology as having miraculous qualities, where putting infective material on agar will…
When providing Postmortem samples more is better!
Things to consider when submitting histological samples for infectious diseases.
How much blood is needed
Urolith Analysis. There is a new submission process!
Your clinic will need to create an account with the Minnesota Urolith Centre (online) and fill out all the information….
Interpretation of In-clinic results.
Do you have in-clinic results that you would like interpreted?
How to Package Samples for Delivery to VetPath NZ
Samples need to be packaged using the 3-layer IATA packaging system. This consists of a primary receptacle, secondary receptacle and…
Toxicology:
Common Food Toxins
Grapes, raisins, currants and sultanas These fruits can produce toxicities in dogs, and possibly cats no matter whether they are…
Nitrate toxicity in ruminants.
Nitrate toxicity can occur in cattle ingesting plants containing high level of nitrates.
Anticoagulant Toxicity.
Anticoagulant toxicity can affect any species but it is most common in dogs. Clinical signs depend on the agent, the…
Infectious Disease:
In pigs, what samples do I need for the most common disease investigation?
Pink Eye (Moraxella bovis)
Haemorrhagic enterocolitis in cattle?
Consider Bovine Adenovirus
Chronic Theileria orientalis Ikeda infections.
When cattle are first infected with Theileria orientalis Ikeda they develop an acute, moderate to severe regenerative anaemia.
Laboratory Diagnosis of Lawsonia intracellularis in horses.
The clinical signs of weight loss and/or dependent oedema may be the first specific signs that infection is present.
Diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis in Cats
While many cats are exposed to Toxoplasma gondii at some point in their lives clinical disease is infrequent with most…
Diagnosing Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)
Confirming a diagnosis of FIP is not easy. Clinical signs are often non-specific, routine blood work is not pathognomic and serological…
Infectious Bursal Disease Virus in Chickens.
A low virulence strain of IBD has recently been discovered in New Zealand. IBD causes inflammation followed by atrophy of…
Respiratory Diseases in Birds
Microbiology:
Antibiotic sensitivity testing for anaerobes
Anaerobic antibiotic sensitivities are not routinely performed in diagnostic laboratories because testing is difficult, expensive, and routine techniques as used…
Increases in cases of Yersiniosis in cattle.
We have seen an increase in cases of bovine yersiniosis cause by Yersinia pseudotuberculosis over the last few years.
Cytology and Culture in Otitis.
Underlying disease is present in most cases of recurrent or chronic otitis externa and a good history and physical examination…
Transition Cows:
Trace Element:
Can serum copper testing help base decisions on supplementation programs?
The answer is yes it can, to a limited degree.
Biochemistry:
Submandibular Oedema in Cattle.
Submandibular swelling is commonly seen in cattle. It is often attributed to hypoalbuminaemia due to Johne’s disease.
Non- Parturient hypocalcemia in Dairy Cows.
In the last 2 weeks we have seen several cases of hypocalcemia in dairy cows.
Laboratory tests for working up the thin elderly cat.
Loss of weight is common in elderly cats.
Idiopathic hypercalcaemia in cats
In cats, there are several causes for hypercalcaemia including hypercalcaemia of malignancy and chronic kidney disease. However, idiopathic hypercalcaemia is now…
Hyperlipidaemia in miniature schnauzers
Hyperlipidaemia refers to an elevation in serum triglyceride (TG) and/or cholesterol concentration.
Inflammatory Markers in Cats
How often have you felt sure that your feline patient had an inflammatory condition and yet a CBC didn’t support…
Metabolic Disease:
Hypokalaemia as a cause for recumbency in cattle.
NEFA vs BOH: Which one to assess?
Concentration of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and beta-hydroxy-butyrate (BOH) reflect mobilisation of adipose tissue in response to an imbalance between…
Mastitis:
Calf Management:
Fluid Therapy in Calves with Diarrhoea Update
Ruminal acidosis in pre-weaned calves
Illness and deaths can occur in pre-weaned calves due to marked ruminal acidosis as a consequence of milk entering the…
Assessing Passive Transfer in Calves
Currently, adequate passive transfer in calves is most commonly determined by measuring serum immunoglobulin (IgG) or its proxy, total protein…
Freemartin Testing
In most cases of cattle carrying twins, blood is exchanged between fetuses so that in the case of male-female twins,…
Parasitism:
Enteric Coccidia in Calves.
Coccidiosis due to Eimeria is most common in young or naïve calves. More than a dozen species parasitise cattle, however…
Abortion:
Neospora in Cattle. Abortions are starting to be seen
so it is an apt time to be looking at some of the causes. Let’s start with Neospora.
Bovine Abortion diagnosis can be challenging
To have the best chance finding the cause follow these basic rules.
Foals:
Assessing Transfer of Passive Immunity in Foals: Immunoglobulins.
Immunoglobulins are commonly assessed in foals to ensure that transference of passive immunity is sufficient for protection until the foal…
Serum Amyloid A (SAA) in Neonatal Foals
Endocrinology:
Hyperlipaemia in ponies and donkeys.
Hyperlipaemia is a condition in which the blood (and tissue) lipid concentration increases to a level that can disrupt organ…
Monitoring dogs with hypothyroidism
Monitoring the patient on levothyroxine (e.g. Eltroxin) is not as straight forward as it might seem.
Diagnosis of canine hyperadrenocorticism
A diagnosis of hyperadrenocorticism is usually only pursued if history and clinical signs are consistent.
Monitoring treatment of canine hyperadrenocorticism.
There are two methods for assessing the efficacy of treatment in patient receiving trilostane (Vetoryl).
Pars Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction in Ponies
Up to 64% of ponies without clinical signs of PPID have plasma ACTH concentrations that are above the upper “normal”…
Musculoskeletal:
Investigating Equine Muscular Storage Diseases.
Recommended protocol for New Zealand Equids.
Canine Masticatory Muscle Myositis (MMM)
MMM is an autoimmune disease with focal inflammation restricted to the muscles of mastication (temporalis, masseter, pterygoid and rostral digastricus)…
Urinalysis:
Urinalysis
Urinalysis consists of assessment of
Is that really a urinary tract infection?
Serology:
Titre Testing Post vaccination for Parvovirus and Distemper virus.
Antibody testing is sometimes carried out to determine when a dog needs a booster vaccine for parvovirus and/or distemper virus.
Neoplasia:
Lipomas are tumours of well differentiated adipocytes that are well demarcated from surrounding tissue.
They are generally easy to resect and recurrence is rare.
Apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinoma (AGASACA)
Apocrine gland anal sac adenocarcinoma (AGASACA) is a malignant tumour that arises from glandular tissue surrounding the anal sac. The…
Soft tissue sarcomas/soft tissue mesenchymal tumours
(STS) in dogs encompass several types of tumours.
Cytology and Histology:
Things to consider when you have a mammary mass in a dog
Vaccine Reaction Sites in Cats
Do you know the 3-2-1 Rule for vaccine site reactions when dealing with cats? Find out more here.
Liver, Pancreatic, and GI Disease:
Non-specific gastrointestinal signs in dogs
Consider chronic pancreatitis
Faecal occult blood testing
can be useful when investigating the possibility of gastrointestinal bleeding in the absence of clinical melaena.
Total lipase in the diagnosis of pancreatitis in cats and dogs
VetPath NZ uses the DGGR method for assessing total lipase. Summary ————————————————————————————————————————————– Lipase and Pancreatitis Until recently, the use of…
Getting the most out of Companion Animal Liver biopsies.
Investigating the cause for a hepatopathy can be challenging and biopsies of the liver may help provide much needed information.
Vomiting and abdominal pain: Is it Pancreatitis??
In dogs, acute pancreatitis is a relatively common disorder and is a primary differential when the presenting signs are vomiting…
Pancreatitis in Cats.
Cats with pancreatitis play their cards close to their chests.
Folate and Cobalamin in the diagnosis of chronic GI disease in
Serum cobalamin and folate analysis can be useful in the work-up of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) disease. Stores for both…
Dermatology:
Dermatologic Conditions and what to consider when wanting the best results from skin biopsies
Diagnosing dermatophytosis in dogs and cats.
Dermatophytosis is a disease caused by a superficial fungal infection in keratinised skin.
Cytology:
Cytology and Culture in Otitis.
Underlying disease is present in most cases of recurrent or chronic otitis externa and a good history and physical examination…
Mast Cell Tumour Staining.
Mast cell granules often stain poorly with rapid stains such as Diff Quik.
Haematology:
Haemotrophic mycoplasma infections in cats.
Mycoplasma haemofelis (formerly Haemobartonella haemofelis) is one of a group of haemotrophic mycoplasma organisms which can infect cats in NZ.
Anaemia in rabbits
Anaemia in rabbits is defined as a decrease in haemoglobin concentration [Hb] and/or haematocrit (HCT). Diagnosis of anaemia in rabbits…