Your pet will be asked to lay on their back, have their belly shaved, have rubbing alcohol and ultrasound gel applied to their abdomen, then lay still for 15-20 minutes while images are acquired. If there are abnormalities in the way the organs look or if bloodwork is telling us there are abnormalities in the way they are functioning, we may recommend sampling of the organ with a small needle. To get quality diagnostic images, sedation is often required. Your veterinarian will ultimately decide the need for and type of sedation that is best for your pet. Dr Sinclair will generate a report for your veterinarian with recommendations for next steps.

Yes. In order for the ultrasound machine to work properly the probe must have close contact with the skin with no interference from fur. Alcohol and gel will also be used to allow proper conduction of the ultrasound waves.

Ultrasound provides a more detailed look into the abdomen than x-rays can provide. X-rays are a flat picture of the abdomen which allows us to see outlines of organs while ultrasound is a moving live video which lets us actively investigate the detailed layers of organs. This gives us an understanding of the abdominal cavity in 3 dimensions. While x-rays are good at seeing gas and bones, the soft tissues of the abdomen often blend together. Many times x-rays are used as a screen to pick up abnormalities in size, shape or position of organs, which then need to be investigated in more detail with ultrasound.

X-rays can only see the outline of organs, so it is possible for things to be stuck in the intestines and not stand out on x-ray. While things like metal or rocks may be very clear on x-rays, most things that get stuck in an animal's intestines (fabric, plastic, rawhide, hairballs, etc) blend into the other organs. Even with radiologist review, x-rays are only correct in diagnosing intestinal blockage 70% of the time. Ultrasound is approximately 99% sensitive and for this reason your vet may recommend ultrasound when x-rays are not clear. Ultrasound is also far more sensitive than x-rays at picking up abnormalities in other organs that may be causing your pets clinical signs.

Ultrasound is a very powerful way to visualize organs, and with her specialty training and over a decade of experience interpreting ultrasound, Dr. Sinclair may have a very good guess as to what is wrong based on how things look. However, nothing can replace collecting a sample and having the cells evaluated by a pathologist. In many cases an organ can look abnormal for many different reasons and the only way to get more information is to analyze a sample. When blood work tells us an organ is not functioning properly we may need a sample to get more information, even if it looks normal on ultrasound.

Yes. Pre-approval allows us to get the sample at the time of the ultrasound. If you prefer to learn the results of the ultrasound first, we will likely have to schedule sample collection on a different day. This may require repeating sedation.

Maybe. It depends on how anxious your pet is at the vet hospital, if they have abdominal pain, or if they tolerate being positioned for ultrasound. Your pet will have to lay on their back, have their belly shaved, have alcohol and ultrasound gel applied to their abdomen, then lay still for 15-20 minutes while images are acquired. Depending on how tolerant they are of this, it may be very difficult to get a quality scan without sedation. Your veterinarian will ultimately decide the need for and type of sedation that is best for your pet. If you do not pre-approve sedation, but your pet ends up requiring it, your pet's ultrasound may have to be rescheduled on a different day.

Yes. When the stomach is full of food this obstructs visualization of important organs in the abdomen. It is also best to assess the small intestinal tract when it is empty. Patients should be fasted for 8-12 hours prior to ultrasound whenever possible.