Vienna Veterinary Clinic Ultrasonography Specialist: Dr. Paulina
My name is Dr Paulina and one of my areas of speciality is Ultrasonography. In my years of experience I have found that screening the abdomen with an ultrasound alongside a complete blood profile is a truly effective and efficient way of getting an overview of a pets internal health.
We as vets are all used to using blood tests as a first tool to assessing the health profile of our pets, and I cannot disagree with this method. The blood test is a very precise and fast diagnostic test, but we always have to remember that the earlier stages of some diseases and a few congenital diseases will not give any clinical symptoms.
All of our internal organs have very important skills which can be be carried out in the body even when they are not in the best condition . In many cases structural changes will appear first without of any outside symptoms being present.
The best example of this is the Kidney, as they really only need 25% of the healthy tissue to work as an effective and fully functioning organ. Because of this it can be hard to notice, through blood tests alone, if the organs have any life threatening issues. Ultrasonography will help us to catch early structural changes, kidney stones, polyps in polycystic kidney disease, atrophy or dysplasia on one of the kidneys. Plus, thanks to the ultrasound scan we can also find lumps on the organs before they grow to a dangerous size or spread to other vital organs
Therefore, ultrasounds work very well alongside a blood test, as increased blood parameters will estimate where the problem is, but the ultrasound will tell as what exactly is going wrong. From here your vet can assess the best course of treatment.
My advice is to have your pet's organs checked with an ultrasound to give you some peace of mind and to avoid internal issues progressing unnecessarily.
For more information please feel free to call us and a vet can walk you through the procedure and answer your questions.
Our Clinic - 04 388 3827
