The Gisborne Veterinary Clinic works hard to make sure our patients are given optimum care when they are ill. One of the ways we work to arrive at a diagnosis of why your pet may be unwell is to use x-rays and ultrasound examinations. These diagnostic methods are used to look at internal structures of your pet which helps us find the answers. Once we have a diagnosis of why you pet is unwell, then we can move to appropriate treatment.
X-rays are taken of almost anywhere in the body and gives a photo of the internal skeletal part of the body. It is a relatively quick procedure but often requires sedation to produce optimal quality x-rays.
X-rays can only really show us outlines of certain organ but cannot look inside the organs. This is where ultrasounds come in.
Ultrasound is a different method that works with sound beams in the body to allow us to look closer at the internal structure of organs such as the kidneys, spleen, liver and heart. An ultrasound examination requires quite a lot of time and often a light sedation allows your pet to relax and us to obtain a good quality study.
The two methods together can provide a lot of diagnostic information to help us when we are faced with an unwell pet. The more efficiently and timely we come to a diagnosis, the quicker we can work towards making your pet better again. We would always discuss with you the reasons for why we wish to do these particular studies and the outcomes we would expect.
