Our hospital is fully equipped to take radiographs (often called x-rays) of your pet. Our veterinarians will discuss your pet’s case and conduct a thorough physical examination to determine if your pet requires radiographs. Radiographs are a very important tool to help us diagnose diseases in animals, particularly for conditions involving bones, the chest or abdomen.
We utilise state of the art digital x-rays that render an image in seconds. These digital images make it very easy to share with other experts to assist in diagnosis and interpretation. If our Veterinarians have questions or concerns aobut your pet's radiographs, then we may ask to have them reviewed by a Board Certified Specialist (in Radiology). This process only takes hours! In an emergency situation, we can have the Specialist interpretation in less than 30 minutes.
Radiographs (or X-rays) are often essential in the evaluation of muscular-skeletal, heart, lung, gastrointestinal, reproductive and urinary systems. X-rays are a key tool that we utilize to rapidly diagnose many problems. They are a window to the inside of your pet. Some radiographs may require sedation to minimize the stress on your pet and make him/her more comfortable. If this is the case, we will speak with you before proceeding with sedation.
When we have radiographs taken the radiographer asks us to keep perfectly still, often in unnatural positions. Most pets would never lie still enough, in the correct position, for us to take good quality radiographs required to diagnose their condition. Sedation and anaesthesia allow us to get the most useful radiographs possible.
Taking a radiograph is very similar to taking a photo, except we use x-rays instead of light rays. Different tissues in the body absorb x-rays to differing degrees. Of all the tissues in the body, bone absorbs the most x-rays. This is the reason that bone appears white on a radiograph. Soft tissues, such as the heart, kidneys or other organs, absorb some but not all of the x-rays, so they appear on a radiograph in different shades of grey. The air-filled lungs absorb relatively few x-rays so appear dark grey or black on a radiograph. We will demonstrate and explain the radiographs when your pet goes home.
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