The Microscopic Minute 

Have you ever seen one of these in a blood smear?

Looks freaky doesn't it?

This is a hemoglobin crystal, and it's actually not important at all! This is just an artifact where the hemoglobin crystalizes...

 This is an aspirate from an intestinal mass in a middle aged cat.



What in the world are those?

Well, believe it or not, they are mast cells!

Mast cells occasionally have this morphology, especially in v...

Did you know that plasma cell tumors can occur in the GI tract? Yep!

Feast your eyes on this gorg cytology sample from an intestinal mass in a middle aged dog.

Soooo many beautiful plasma cells with the...

If you asked these cells what was on their nerves today, they'd say ultrasound gel.

Ultrasound gel looks like globby, magenta bits microscopically. If there's enough of it, it can really interfere with...

Flame cells are super ramped up plasma cells that exhibit a pink cytoplasmic hue which represents immunoglobulin. They’re sometimes referred to as “constipated” plasma cells, which feels appropriate. ...

Did you know that 60-80% of skin tumors in dogs are benign?

That’s good news! But we can’t know if a tumor is benign or malignant without our microscope, so go ahead and poke everything! 🔬