News and updates

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 considered the most common cause for a high serum calcium concentration in cats. 

I’ts a tumour, but what type? Pathologist Genevieve D’Amours from SVS Laboratories, zooms in on a tumour case involving a four-year-old dog. (Vetscript July 2020)

Monitoring dogs with hypothyroidism  Monitoring the patient on levothyroxine (e.g. Eltroxin) is not as straight forward as it might seem.

Urinalysis consists of assessment of

• the sample’s physical features
• specific gravity (USG)
• dipstick (chemical) features
• sediment examination for casts, cells, crystals and organisms

Laboratory tests for the thin elderly cat. Loss of weight is common in elderly cats. Sometimes the cause is readily diagnosed on physical examination such as dental disease, or on routine testing which detects hyperthyroidism, chronic kidney disease or diabetes mellitus. Click link for other possible causes.

Investigating Equine Muscular Storage Diseases.  Recommended protocol for New Zealand Equids. 

Device-ve testing. By Sandra Forsyth. Serum amyloid A is useful for detecting and monitoring acute inflammation in horses. However, the arrival of handheld devices in New Zealand means veterinarians need to take care when interpreting results. (Device-ve testing First published Vetscript 44 Issue 2 p 50-1, Apr 2021)

Folate and Cobalamin in the diagnosis of chronic GI disease in Cats and Dogs. Serum cobalamin and folate analysis can be useful in the work-up of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) disease.

Hypocalcaemia in Cats and Dogs. Hypocalcaemia is diagnosed based on a low total serum calcium concentration.  However, a low serum calcium doesn’t necessarily indicate that a true hypocalcaemia is present.

Go to Test Services and CPD & Resource Centre for more articles and info

COVID-19 UPDATE

16 November 2021

We are thrilled to see Waikato move back to Level 2 in the Covid response.

The challenge now is to adapt to life as we move from pandemic to endemic. At SVS Labs we see the appropriate level of measures as including

• All our staff will be double vaccinated
• All visitors will be asked if they are double vaccinated
• We will wear face masks at the point of contact with visitors such as those dropping samples into Specimen Reception
• There will be signage asking these visitors to wear a face mask
• We will have our QR code available for scanning

We thank all our clients for the way you have worked with us through lockdown and with these ongoing steps which we are all seeing as part of our new normal.