Dog & Cat HospitalCalabasas

Care

Diagnostic Laboratory

In-house bloodwork, urinalysis, and cytology — most results back before you leave, so treatment decisions happen the same day, not days later.

Waiting two to three days for outside lab results when your pet is sick is more than an inconvenience — it delays diagnosis and treatment. Dog & Cat Hospital Calabasas runs a fully equipped in-house diagnostic laboratory that returns results on most common tests within the same visit. Whether your dog is off-food and lethargic, your cat needs a pre-anesthetic panel before a dental cleaning, or your veterinarian wants to monitor a chronic condition, our lab gives the entire care team fast, accurate data to act on.

What's Included

Our in-house laboratory handles the most commonly needed diagnostics for dogs and cats:

  • Complete blood count (CBC) — red cells, white cells, and platelets to evaluate infection, anemia, and immune status
  • Comprehensive chemistry panel — kidney, liver, pancreas, blood glucose, electrolytes, and protein levels
  • Urinalysis — kidney function, infections, crystals, and glucose spilling
  • Cytology — microscopic evaluation of masses, skin lesions, ear discharge, or joint fluid
  • Fecal parasite screening — direct smear and float for intestinal parasites
  • Heartworm and tick-borne disease antigen testing (dogs)
  • FeLV/FIV combination testing (cats)
  • Pre-anesthetic panels before surgery, dentistry, or sedated procedures
  • Therapeutic drug monitoring and cortisol testing for Cushing's and Addison's disease

Fast lab answers when your pet needs them

Book an Appointment

What to Expect

Most lab samples are collected during or immediately after your pet's physical exam — a small blood draw, urine catch, or a quick swab. In-house results are typically ready within 20–30 minutes for chemistry and CBC panels, allowing the doctor to discuss findings and recommend a treatment plan before you leave. For specialized or reference-lab tests that require outside processing, we'll set timeline expectations upfront and call you as soon as results arrive. Our team reviews every result in the context of your pet's history and physical findings — not as numbers in isolation.

Why Our Team

Same-visit answers.

Most panels are analyzed and reviewed by the time you're ready to check out — no 48-hour wait for a sick pet.

Specialist interpretation.

Our ACVIM internal-medicine specialist reviews complex or ambiguous lab findings, adding a layer of diagnostic depth not available at every practice.

Seamlessly integrated.

Lab results feed directly into the treatment discussion — the doctor who reviewed your pet also reviews the numbers, in the same room, at the same visit.

Reference lab access.

Tests beyond our in-house menu are sent to a certified veterinary reference laboratory and tracked closely by our team.

Frequently Asked Questions

1Why does my pet need bloodwork at every annual exam?
Annual bloodwork establishes and updates your pet's individual baseline so that subtle trends — like a gradually rising kidney value — are caught long before they become a crisis. Many early-stage conditions show no outward symptoms but are detectable in routine panels.
2How much blood do you need to draw from a small dog or cat?
Very little — typically a fraction of a teaspoon, drawn from a neck or leg vein in seconds. The amount is carefully sized to the patient, and the process is generally quick and well-tolerated.
3My cat's labs came back abnormal — does that mean something serious?
Not necessarily. Mild elevations can reflect stress, dehydration, recent meals, or laboratory variation rather than disease. Your veterinarian will interpret results alongside the physical exam and your cat's history to determine whether further testing or treatment is needed.
4Does my pet need to fast before bloodwork?
For routine chemistry panels, a 4–8 hour fast is preferred because recent meals can elevate triglycerides and glucose, skewing results. For CBC testing alone or urgent sick-pet visits, fasting is less critical — we'll advise you when you schedule.
5What is cytology and when is it used?
Cytology is the microscopic examination of cells collected from a lump, skin lesion, ear canal, or body fluid. It's a quick, minimally invasive way to determine whether a mass is likely benign, inflammatory, or suspicious for cancer — often giving meaningful guidance before any biopsy is needed.
6How often should my dog be tested for heartworm?
Annual testing is recommended for all dogs on monthly heartworm prevention, because even consistent preventive use leaves a small window of risk and early-stage infection is much easier to treat than advanced disease.
7What does a pre-anesthetic panel check for?
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork evaluates kidney and liver function (which process anesthetic drugs), red-cell count (anemia risk), and other organ values that influence how anesthesia is administered and monitored. It's a safety screen, not a formality.
8Can you test for food allergies with bloodwork?
Serum allergy testing for food is not considered reliable by veterinary dermatologists — it produces many false positives and negatives. An elimination diet trial using a hydrolyzed or novel-protein prescription diet is the validated way to identify food-triggered skin or GI signs in dogs and cats.

Related

ProceduresBloodwork & Lab Diagnostics

Fast lab answers when your pet needs them

Schedule a visit and let our in-house lab give your pet's care team the information they need to act — same day.

Book an Appointment