Imaging For Diagnosis and Treatment

Ultrasound is a technique that provides us with a non invasive way of scanning your pet’s body system without surgery. An ultrasound machine is used for the diagnosis and treatment of pets by using high frequency sound waves. Similar to an ultrasound that is used to monitor a human pregnancy a probe is placed against the body. Sound waves are converted into an image that represents a slice through the tissue, and this is displayed on a small TV screen so we can gain a better understanding of what is going on in your pet’s body. For example we can investigate the liver, kidneys, intestines, gall bladder, bladder, uterus, and abdominal cancer.

The types of things that can be diagnosed with ultrasound range from pregnancy to blockages of the intestine to bladder stones. It is very useful in patients with heart disease as we can measure the thickness of the walls of the heart and see the heart valves in action and it can be done while the patient is awake or sedated with minimal stress.