IDEXX VetLab®notes
Get the most value out of your IDEXX VetLab® system

Our FREE online newsletter provides valuable ideas to help you make the most of your system.

Welcome to the premiere issue of VetLab®notes—
a quarterly newsletter developed by our IDEXX VetLab^® Support Team to enhance your success with in-house testing. We hope you find these facts and tips useful in your day-to-day testing and patient care. Please give us your feedback! Your comments will help us make upcoming issues meaningful to you. Just e-mail us at VetLab-notes@idexx.com.

VetTest® Dry-Slide Technology Minimizes the Effects of Interfering Substances

As you know, drawing a clean sample from a pet is not an easy task, especially when animals are ill or stressed. Samples from patients who have recently

Your IDEXX VetTest analyzer offers proven dry-slide technology, which minimizes the effects of these interfering substances. The following diagram shows how VetTest dry-slide chemistry slides are designed with a unique filtering layer.

Patient sample is applied to the top of the spreading layer.

Spreading layer: Sample is distributed evenly

Filtering layer: Filters our substances that interfere with results
Reagent layer: Reagent reacts with sample

Indicator layer: Reacted sample collects for spectral analysis
Support layer: Optical interface

The layered dry-slide design filters out substances that can interfere with results, providing greater accuracy.

Interfering Substances in Veterinary Clinical Chemistry


Blood samples containing interfering substances can cause misleading or false results, and are more common than you may think. In fact, a recent study showed that as many as 75% of blood samples in veterinary medicine can be affected by interfering substances.* That's why it is essential for your chemistry analyzer to provide accurate results—even when samples are compromised.

Over 50 million patients have been tested to date using the IDEXX VetTest, making this technology the most preferred, proven chemistry method when veterinary teams want uncompromising accuracy for the best patient care.

*Study on file with IDEXX Laboratories.

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Make a Note
IDEXX offers quality control tools for your independent verification of VetTest accuracy

IDEXX VetTest® accuracy lets you provide confident, personalized care in-clinic in minutes. You can verify our accuracy by using the following veterinary-specific, cost-effective tools.

• IDEXX VetTest-specific quality control reference ranges are included in your updated VetTest software.
• IDEXX VetTrol™ is bovine-based, ensuring that the testing range you are verifying is relevant for veterinary medicine.
• IDEXX VetTrol™ Quality Control authorized IDEXX distributor, or directly from IDEXX at 1-800-248-2483.

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Meet an IDEXX Support Team Member

IDEXX has over 100 customer and technical support representatives available to answer your call. Here is just one of our friendly team members.

Isolde Felder has been with IDEXX for three years and has a B.S. in animal and veterinary science from the University of Maine, Orono. Isolde has had training on all IDEXX VetLab® equipment, including our new IDEXX LaserCyte® Hematology Analyzer. Before joining IDEXX, Isolde worked as a zookeeper at Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach, FL, and has also worked as a veterinary technician for a referral practice in Phoenix, AZ.

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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I run quality control?

Running quality control on the VetTest® analyzer is easy. See section F–1 of the user's guide for quality control instructions.

Please hang this guide in your lab, next to your VetTest® analyzer, so you can refer to it whenever you and your team want to confirm that you're all consistently following the correct methods for best results.

1. Reconstitute the IDEXX VetTrol™ Quality Control Solution.
2. Choose the chemistries to test.
3. Enter New Sample; select CONTROLS from the species list.
4. The VetTest printout automatically compares results to veterinary-specific reference ranges, completing the independent verification of your VetTest's accuracy.

If you ever have any problems or questions regarding quality control, please contact our industry-leading support team at 1-800-248-2483.

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To Reach IDEXX Customer Support

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