Enhancing Pet Care: The Role of Diagnostic Imaging in Effective Treatment
Technology plays an important role in our ability to provide great care and service to clients at Upper Village Veterinary Hospital. Our vet, Dr. Steven Davidson, has invested in advanced technologies to aid in both detecting and treating conditions that can affect your pet’s health and quality of life.
How do you find out what could be causing my pet’s pain, etc.?
Dr. Davidson performs a nose-to-tail assessment during routine wellness visits or other appointments at our office in Toronto, Ontario. He assesses by both sight and touch (to palpate). Diagnostic imaging services are also ordered at regular intervals and on an as-needed basis. The frequency of certain tests will depend on factors such as your pet’s age, overall health status, underlying medical problems, and what Dr. Davidson sees or feels during an exam.
What do you mean by “diagnostic imaging”?
This refers to the images or pictures taken of the inside of your dog’s or cat’s body. These images are made using special technologies. They show us what is happening inside your pet, areas that cannot be seen with the unaided eye or felt by hand. In turn, this information is used to uncover the underlying source of a patient’s pain or to uncover problems that may be “silent” or asymptomatic. Without these services, you may not know your pet has a problem that requires treatment because not all issues produce symptoms early on. And pets are also known to be incredibly stoic when tolerating even some of the most uncomfortable problems. In all, these services help us to make an accurate diagnosis.
Why is an accurate diagnosis so important?
We will not know how to treat a condition until we understand it. The information provided by such technologies supports our ability to accurately understand the nature and severity of the problem that requires treatment. It is essential to have the right diagnosis; otherwise, the recommended treatment or interventions will not work as they do not target the real problem.
What services do you use?
Our services on this front include radiography or x-rays and ultrasound. X-rays are great for assessing masses, tumours, and other anomalies that may otherwise go hidden or undetected. When allowed to progress, some of these conditions can cause pain, interfere with mobility and other functions, and even lead to life-threatening complications. Early detection supports a high “cure” rate for conditions like malignant tumours as we can treat cancer when it is localized and before it metastasizes or spreads to other neighbouring structures or distant organs and parts of the body. Ultrasonography or ultrasound is also a non-invasive and economical way to painlessly and quickly rule out or confirm everything from UTIs to suspicious growths and “foreign bodies” to bladder stones.
Such testing is also a cornerstone of our preventative programmes at Upper Village Veterinary Hospital. If your pet is due for a wellness exam, we encourage you to contact our team in midtown Toronto, ON, at (647) 560-9276. Many of these services and related ones may also be covered under our no-strings-attached in-house wellness plans. Be sure to ask us about options for membership today!
