At Pine Point Animal Hospital, we’re proud to offer advanced diagnostics, including X-rays, laboratory services, and in-house veterinary ultrasound. In this month’s blog, we’re digging into the specifics of veterinary ultrasound—what it is, what it is used for, and how it can benefit your pets. Keep reading to learn more!
What Is Veterinary Ultrasound?
Ultrasound is a non-invasive diagnostic tool that’s been used in both human and animal medicine for decades. During an ultrasound, a transducer emits sound waves into the body and measures the echoes that bounce back. Those echoes produce live images on the ultrasound monitor, allowing us to “see” inside your pet’s body in real time.
Unlike X-rays, ultrasound does not use radiation. While an X-ray is most useful for looking at dense structures, like bones and lungs, an ultrasound can be used to look at soft tissues like your pet’s heart, internal organs, and tendons. Ultrasound can also be used to look at blood flow and check for free fluid in the chest or abdomen.
When Is Veterinary Ultrasound Recommended?
Thanks to its non-invasive nature and ability to provide valuable health insights, we use ultrasound for a range of needs, including diagnosing and monitoring health conditions, emergency assessment after trauma, and image-guided diagnostics such as biopsies.
If your veterinarian sees anything abnormal in your pet’s labs or urine samples, they may recommend an ultrasound to get a more detailed picture of your pet’s health. During the ultrasound, they’ll check internal organs such as the lymph nodes, spleen, kidneys, liver, urinary bladder, and other areas to learn what’s causing the abnormalities.
If your pet is experiencing an emergency, an ultrasound can give us important information quickly! Your veterinarian may use an ultrasound to check for internal bleeding, congestive heart failure, or pneumothorax (a condition in which gas or air collects in the space surrounding the lungs).
Ultrasound also serves as a visualization tool for sensitive procedures, such as biopsies and fine needle aspirates, by helping us target tissue samples less invasively.
Benefits of Ultrasound
The main advantage of ultrasound is that it gives us immediate information about your pet’s condition so we can make quick, informed treatment plans. Ultrasound is also a non-invasive diagnostic, so it’s quick, painless, and requires minimal restraint. And, because it doesn’t use radiation, it’s ideal for safe, repeated evaluations.
Ultrasound also gives more detail than other diagnostic imaging. For example, it allows your vet to see organ function, blood flow, and movement in real-time. Because it allows us to see a variety of tissue types, it can also be useful in diagnosing foreign objects if your dog (or cat!) ate something they shouldn’t have.
What Happens During A Veterinary Ultrasound?
Worried about what will happen during your pet’s ultrasound appointment? Don’t worry, we’ll explain each step of the process!
Just like other types of appointments, we’ll start with a thorough physical exam. We’ll also discuss your pet’s recent medical history and ask questions about how they’re eating and drinking, if their potty habits have changed, and any other symptoms you may have noticed.
During the ultrasound itself, your pet will be gently positioned in a padded trough on their back. In most cases, we’ll need to shave hair over the exam area (usually the chest or belly) to ensure clear imaging. We use a water-based gel on the outside of the skin. This gel reduces friction against the skin and acts as a conductive medium that helps the sound waves travel efficiently from the transducer into the body.
Depending on the area being examined and the complexity of your pet’s case, the ultrasound itself generally takes less than an hour. While the ultrasound itself is non-invasive and pain-free, some pets may be anxious about being at the vet or struggle with staying still enough for clear images. In those cases, your vet may recommend sedation to make the whole process low-stress and ensure the best possible diagnostic images.
While the ultrasound often gives some immediate information about your pet’s condition, your veterinarian may also send images to a radiologist for confirmation or advanced diagnostics. After the ultrasound, we’ll be able to put together an informed, comprehensive treatment plan for your pet!
Trust Pine Point Animal Hospital for Quick, Effective Veterinary Ultrasound
At Pine Point Animal Hospital, we’re proud to offer in-clinic ultrasound for quick and effective diagnostic imaging! In addition to Dr. LaRue’s intensive sonography training with VDIC, she has taught point-of-care ultrasound techniques as a FASTVet ultrasound proctor and collaborator. By integrating real-time imaging with compassionate patient care, we’re elevating the standard of care available to pets in the Damascus area. Contact us today to schedule an appointment or learn more about our veterinary ultrasound services!