What’s your diagnosis?

REBECCA ALLANClinical historyAn 11-year-old, female spayed, Shih Tzu presented at the veterinarian for a regular check-up. The owner asked for a recently discovered mass to be checked out. Palpation revealed a 12 mm, firm, subcutaneous, non-painful mass located on the left thigh. Fine needle aspiration of the mass was performed, and smears were submitted for […]

How galling

SANDY WELTANThe cat or dog that ain’t doing right. We all see those frustrating cases, slight lethargy, intermittent vomiting, abdominal pain, and non-specific abnormalities in biochemistry or haematology. Some may present acutely ill with jaundice and elevated liver enzymes. Tests for pancreatitis may or may not be positive and ultrasound may identify abnormalities in some […]

The end of an era

Brent Hananeia, manager of our Dunedin laboratory, worked his last day on Thursday 28 September, 2023. Brent has left quite a footprint throughout our network, and it’s sadly time to bid him farewell after 45 years in the lab.Brent started his career at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) in 1978 at their Invermay […]

You made our day!

One of our Auckland pathologists was recently trimming tissue from histology cases and came across this spleen. On the submission form the veterinarian had commented “apologies about packaging” but actually, it was exceptionally well packaged!It was encased in two sturdy plastic containers with lids that clipped down when pressed, cotton wool (not shown), adequate formalin […]

Call centre update

We implemented our new call centralisation system in August with the aim that all calls to our network be answered promptly and to a high standard of service.Thank you to customers who provided feedback on how this change has met your needs since it was implemented. As a direct result of this feedback, we will […]

Clever specimen bags  

Specimen bags are cleverly designed, cheap, practical and easy to use. The main body of the bag has a plastic zipper across the top, enabling the hazardous samples to be sealed in; plus there is a separate pocket on the outside of the bag for paperwork.?????? ???? ???? ??? . . .> Place samples inside […]

Does interpersonal conflict keep you up at night?

CHRIS GOUGH, LINCOLN INSTITUTEFor those of you interested in diving deeper into this subject, scroll down to the bottom of the email for a special offer… ⬇️Thank you for joining us for Part 2 of the new series on interpersonal conflict from our education partners, The Lincoln Institute.  If you missed part 1 you can find it […]

Diagnostic integration – help us help you!

We are currently in the process of moving all ezyVet customers over to our complete integration system, giving practices access to our laboratory diagnostic testing directly via ezyVet.  This will improve clinic efficiencies and do away with manual handling of test requests and results. If you are an ezyVet customer and have not yet changed over […]

B12 testing issue – cattle

Our team have identified an instrument issue with our serum B12 analyser. This issue has caused some variability with results that are close to the limit of quantification (LOQ) for this test within the last 2 weeks. We are working with the instrument supplier to fix this issue, and until it is resolved we will […]

Lumps and bumps

CRISTINA GANSClinical historyA two-year old Jersey cow presented to the veterinarian with multiple cutaneous nodules of unknown duration, located throughout the body, although most were concentrated on the head and neck (Figure 1). Some nodules appeared ulcerated and may have been secondarily infected. Lymph nodes were not obviously enlarged. Other animals in the herd were […]