DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES
Digital X-Rays and Exams
Over the past few years veterinary X-rays have become far more powerful and useful than ever before, principally because they can now be taken digitally and displayed on a computer. This means that your veterinarian can quickly take a highly detailed image and then manipulate it to gain a better view of your pet’s bones and internal organs. The result is that diagnosing a very wide range of medical conditions is made faster and far more accurate than ever before.
Because Millwood Animal Hospital believes that pet owners deserve the best possible care, we have a state-of-the-art digital veterinary x-ray machine. For complex cases, we are able to easily share these images with a board certified radiologist.
The Advantages of Digital Pet X-Rays
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Digital veterinary X-rays can be saved to a disk and given to you as part of your pet’s home medical record.
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Images can be quickly shared via email to specialists when a second opinion or additional diagnosis is needed.
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Your pet’s time on the X-ray table is reduced because fewer images need to be taken.
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Digital X-rays eliminate the need to use toxic chemicals in the film development process, decreasing the risk of exposure to our staff and the environment.
Veterinary Ultrasounds
Ultrasound is a very important veterinary diagnostic tool because it allows your veterinarian to gain a very precise look at your pet’s internal organs, chest and abdomen without surgery or sedation.
In particular, ultrasound is invaluable for making treatment decisions for various types of heart disease as well as assessing the function and health of internal organs. Ultrasound is also very helpful at identifying lesions, determining their origin, and seeing if they have spread to other areas of the body. Ultrasound can also be used as a surgical aid by helping guide your veterinarian while obtaining a biopsy or removing a foreign object from your pet.
In most cases, the procedure is relatively brief, less than an hour, and your pet is able to go home the very same day. Most importantly, though, your veterinarian will be able to make a highly accurate diagnosis of your pet’s condition and provide effective treatment recommendations.
In order to provide this invaluable service to our clients and their pets, Millwood Animal Hospital works with a board certified internist to perform a wide range of ultrasound studies. For studies involving the heart, we work with a board certified cardiologist.
Veterinary Endoscopy
A veterinary endoscope is a thin tube with a camera and a small number of tools that can be used to diagnose and treat problems that occur in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts.
Much like with a human colonoscopy or an upper GI scan, a veterinary endoscope allows your veterinarian to directly view the esophagus, stomach, colon and some areas of the intestines. If your veterinarian sees an issue, the endoscope also has tools that allow for biopsy samples to be taken for laboratory testing.
Animals also often swallow objects that can become lodged in their upper or lower GI tracts, A veterinary endoscope allows access of these areas without surgery so the object can be removed without surgery.
Because this is a very important tool for easily and effectively diagnosing and treating a range of common ailments, Millwood Animal Hospital works with a board certified internist. Our internist is available to offer these services within our facility for the convenience of our clients.
Our Veterinary Diagnostic Lab
Laboratory testing is a critical component of preventative veterinary care as well as diagnosing and treating illness. Without timely access to accurate tests on blood, urine, feces and biopsied tissue, your veterinarian is severely limited when it comes to diagnosing everything from heartworm to cancer to Lyme disease to feline leukemia, and on and on.
Additionally, the ability to conduct pre-surgical veterinary lab tests is very important for understanding if anesthesia poses a risk to your pet.
For this reason, Millwood Animal Hospital has a complete in-house lab capable of providing timely and accurate results. In many cases, we are able to receive results within minutes.
