Imaging Services
What Imaging Services are available to Full Circle Veterinary clients?
Imaging techniques, like x-ray and ultrasound, are useful to examine the interior world of your pet’s anatomy. Full Circle Veterinary Alternatives anticipates that your conventional veterinary team will do much of the imaging work required by your dog or cat. If this is not the case or our veterinarians need further clarification of a problem, we may utilize the facilities of our companion practice, Petworks Animal Hospital to perform x-rays or ultrasounds. Maritime Veterinary Imaging supports our analysis of radiographs and offers monthly in-clinic assessments by a board-certified veterinary ultrasonographer, Dr. Rist.
More complex imaging such as CT scans or MRI’s are performed at referral practices like the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island or Riverview Animal Hospital in Moncton.
How are x-rays used in veterinary medicine?
X-ray or radiograph images are taken to diagnose problems common to dogs and cats, for example, arthritis, abnormal organ size, foreign objects in the abdomen or internal masses. Radiographs provide a flat image; certain structures like adrenal glands are difficult to locate on an x-ray.
How is ultrasound used in veterinary medicine?
Ultrasound differs from radiography in that the individual images are cross-sections through the body. Ultrasound allows for quite detailed anatomical examination of internal structures permitting visualization of small masses that an x-ray may miss. Motion is also seen on ultrasound, and this is important for evaluating things like heart function and gut motility.
A subspecialty in ultrasonography is cardiac (heart) evaluation. We are fortunate to have a cardiac specialist, Dr. Orr from East Coast Veterinary Cardiology in the HRM region who provides this service for Full Circle clients as needed.
