Ultrasound – abdominal, thoracic, cardiac

Ultrasound is a painless, non invasive imaging procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to generate images of soft tissue, organs, blood flow and other anatomy.

Ultrasound can be used to diagnose illness, characterize anatomy, and safely guide diagnostic biopsy or needle aspiration sampling.

Most pets require no sedation and lay quietly for the procedure. Especially nervous or wiggly patients may need sedation to enable a thorough examination. Sedation or brief anesthesia is usually employed if a biopsy or needle aspirate procedure is performed.

Once you arrive for your as.ppointment, we will clip your pet’s fur and apply ultrasound gel. Your pet will be placed on a cushioned ultrasound table and held carefully by our trained animal health technicians and/or assistants while examination is performed.

Reasons your family veterinarian may recommend referral for an ultrasound examination:

• Heart murmur
• Heart arrhythmia
• Abdominal mass
• Urogenital disease – eg: recurrent bladder infections, bloody urine, straining to urinate, abnormal blood test results.
• Liver disease
• Intestinal disease
• Adrenal gland disease
• Fluid accumulation in the abdomen, chest or around the heart.
• Lameness due to soft tissue disease
• Assessment of soft tissue tumours

Ultrasound examinations are performed by Dr Linda Kaplan, DVM, who is a general practitioner with over twenty years experience in performing ultrasound studies.