Diagnostic Services

At Hudson Highlands Veterinary Medical Group, we seek to provide your pet with the best that veterinary technology has to offer. That is why we have invested in Digital Thermal Imaging, one of the latest state-of-the-art diagnostic tools on the market.

This non-invasive technology allows your veterinarian to measure radiant energy from any targeted region of your pet’s body. It is extremely helpful in diagnosing inflammation or lack of circulation at the exact locations of distress. Digital Thermal Imaging is quick, easy and can lead to faster diagnoses—meaning less pain or discomfort for your pet.

Digital Thermal Imaging can be used with laser therapy to diagnose and monitor areas of inflammation or lack of circulation. Using this specific imaging device, your veterinarian will have immediate pictures of your pet’s thermal readings which will help in the diagnoses and help guide the treatment plan using Companion CTX Laser Therapy.

Radiographs are one of the most important diagnostic tools in veterinary medicine. They allow us to view the shape, size and location of organs inside your pet’s body. Radiographs are extremely helpful for diagnosing and monitoring many medical and surgical conditions. X-rays are useful for examining your pet’s bones, lungs, heart, abdomen, oral cavity and other areas of the body. An x-ray can detect bladder stones, a fractured bone, tumor, heart problem, and locate an obstruction or foreign body in your pet’s stomach or intestine. X-rays and Ultrasound are often utilized together for an even more accurate diagnosis.

Hudson Highlands Veterinary Medical Group has a new, state-of-the-art, digital x-ray machine. Compared to x-rays produced by a traditional machine, the quality of digital radiographs is much better. Because digital radiographs are so much better than traditional x-rays, fewer images are needed in order to make an accurate diagnosis. Digital x-rays are produced quickly and immediately displayed on a computer monitor. They can be manipulated to get a better view of your pet’s bones and internal organs. Our sophisticated digital x-ray equipment produces clear, detailed images that allow our veterinarians to make a more rapid and accurate diagnosis.

Digital radiology has many benefits for your pet, you, our staff and the environment. Digital x-rays are easier and faster to process than traditional film x-rays, resulting in less time on the x-ray table (and less stress) for your pet. The harsh chemicals once necessary for developing x-rays are not needed for digital x-rays, reducing potential harm to our staff and the environment.

Endoscopy means “looking inside” and refers to looking inside the body for medical purposes. The instrument used for this procedure is called an endoscope. Endoscopy is a minimally invasive, diagnostic, medical procedure commonly used to evaluate the interior surfaces of an organ by inserting a small tube into the body. Through the endoscope, the observer is able to see lesions of organs and other internal medical conditions.

In veterinary medicine, endoscopy is commonly used as a diagnostic procedure, for tissue and organ biopsies, to remove foreign objects (particularly in the stomach) or get an inside view of a particular part of a pet’s body. Even though anesthesia is required to keep an animal still during the endoscopic procedure, the amount of anesthesia and recovery time is minimal. Endoscopy is often indicated when routine blood and urine tests, radiographs and ultrasound do not give the complete diagnostic picture.

The endoscope is composed of a long tube (flexible or rigid), a light source, camera and viewing eyepiece. In addition to the fiber optic light source, there are two channels within the tube. One channel is for passing forceps, snares or biopsy instruments, allowing for the removal of foreign objects, collection of biopsy samples and removal of small polyps or tumors. Air or water can be passed through the other channel for better viewing of the tissue or organ.

The benefits of endoscopy over exploratory surgery include no surgical incision, shortened anesthetic time, decreased inflammation, less physiologic stress and discomfort and an earlier return to normal function. The endoscope is used to help diagnose and treat a variety of gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders. At Hudson Highlands Veterinary Medical Group, we offer both flexible and rigid endoscopy which allow our veterinarians to examine the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine, upper and lower respiratory tract and other organs in a non-invasive manner.

Ultrasound is a pain-free, totally non-invasive technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to produce a real-time moving image of your pet’s internal organs. It allows us a look at your pet’s internal organs, chest and abdomen without surgery or sedation. At Hudson Highlands Veterinary Medical Group, we employ ultrasound for a wide-range of diagnostic and medical procedures. It is particularly useful for complete examinations of the abdomen and the heart.

In most cases, an ultrasound procedure is relatively brief. Most importantly, though, an ultrasound, sometimes combined with radiographs, is valuable for making an accurate diagnosis of your pet’s condition and provides effective treatment recommendations.

One of the most important aspects of any preventive medicine regimen is the ability to analyze how well your pet’s internal organs and processes are functioning. For example, are the kidneys and liver doing their jobs at removing waste from the blood stream? Does your pet have internal parasites? Is a growth on your pet’s skin benign?

Laboratory testing allows our veterinarians to obtain additional information to assess your pet’s overall systemic health without the need for invasive and expensive procedures. This is why we maintain an advanced in-house laboratory and regularly perform tests during your pet’s wellness exams or when we suspect your pet may have a health issue.

Generally, we can have results within 15 minutes for the following tests: Complete Blood Count, blood chemistry, urinalysis, electrolytes, blood clotting, microscopic examination of blood, and pathology.

We have a strong association with outside labs for additional diagnostic testing with many results available the next day.

We have a dedicated full-time lab technician to process in-house tests and manage samples that are sent to outside laboratories.

We run full chemistry and CBC’s in-house if needed during an emergency.