San Pablo Hospital offers expertise in diagnosing dogs and cats with complex and often chronic diseases ranging from cardiac and liver disease to gastrointestinal (IBD) and blood disorders. Each appointment begins with reviewing your pet’s veterinary history and speaking with the person who knows them the best - you - before making any treatment recommendations. We will listen to your concerns and work with you every step of the way to achieve the best possible outcome for your furry family member.
Advanced diagnostics play an important role in attaining an accurate diagnosis and effectively treating your pet.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a non-invasive imaging tool that allows us to visualize your pet’s internal organs. It is an important diagnostic because it helps to assess the shape and size of specific internal organs, evaluate for masses/tumors, enlarged lymph nodes and even bladder stones. Cardiac ultrasound (echocardiography) can also be performed to evaluate for specific heart diseases that commonly affect our pets.
How Do Ultrasounds and X-Rays Differ?
There is a big difference between ultrasounds and x-rays. The biggest difference is the quality of the image. Ultrasounds are great at seeing tissues, whereas x-rays are better at seeing solid structures, such as bone.
Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a medical procedure used to examine the inside of the body using an instrument called an endoscope An endoscope is a thin, flexible tube with a light and a camera attached to it. This allows doctors to see pictures of the inside of organs and body cavities on a monitor in real-time.
Some health problems require a closer look to help determine a diagnosis or treat an illness. Endoscopy can be used to see masses, polyps or ulcers within the stomach and to collect biopsies from the GI tract, assist in sampling from the lower airways to further evaluate respiratory diseases and even to remove foreign material.