In-House & Outside Laboratory Testing
At Sarasota Animal Medical Center, you will find modern in-house laboratory testing, which is especially beneficial for critically ill patients. We also recommend routine lab work annually for our young patients and semi-annual bloodwork in our senior patients in order to catch any issues before they turn into more serious problems. Due to our extensive training in holistic alternatives, we are able to treat many issues, such as liver, kidney, and heart disease, successfully if diagnosed early.
Digital Radiology
Digital radiology is an advanced diagnostic imaging tool used to examine your pet’s organs. This includes his or her cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, reproductive, and urinary systems. X-ray is a non-invasive procedure that allows our veterinarians to get an in-depth look at your pet from the inside. At Sarasota Animal Medical Center, our state-of-the-art digital radiology equipment allows us to diagnose such conditions as fractures, joint abnormalities and intervertebral disc disease, as well as abnormalities in the internal organs.
There are a number of benefits of digital radiology compared to traditional film radiology
Digital x-rays produce a much higher image quality compared to a traditional film x-ray, and the digital technology provides us with instant access to your pet’s results. This enables us to diagnose and treat your pet faster, so he or she can return home as quickly as possible. Radiation exposure is also minimized, since digital radiology requires less radiation compared to film x-rays. Digital radiology is also friendly for the environment because there are no chemicals used to process the films.
Digital Dental Radiology
Digital x-rays can also be used to take digital photos of your pet’s teeth and gums during his or her dental exam. In addition to a comprehensive external evaluation, digital dental x-rays can reveal dental diseases that are difficult to detect with an oral exam alone. Digital x-rays provide the ability to examine the anatomy of your pet’s teeth, roots, gums, and surrounding bones. With this technology, our veterinarians can quickly spot and diagnose bone loss or hidden disease that may be present. Because hidden dental disease is often painful, we recommend annual full mouth radiographs on all pets two years of age and older.
Diagnostic Ultrasound
Ultrasound technology uses sound waves transmitted into the body to create an image.
It is a very non-invasive modality that has no side effects. Ultrasound and x-rays together form a great diagnostic tool. While radiographs provide an overall picture of the abdomen or thorax, ultrasound allows us to look at the architecture of an organ, which can be very useful. Another advantage of ultrasound is that it is faster and more affordable than some other advanced imaging modalities, such as CT scans and MRIs. While CT scans and MRIs require deep general anesthesia, ultrasound rarely requires sedation (except in cases in which a patient is particularly anxious).
Advanced diagnostics for improved patient care.
Ultrasound has many uses. For example, when a pet has a tumor, this imaging tool enables us to see which organs are involved and how invasive the tumor is. This helps us with our treatment protocol and prognosis. Also, fluid can be distinguished from soft tissue masses or foreign bodies, which is sometimes difficult to differentiate on radiographs. Ultrasound is a useful tool to determine when patients have blood in the abdomen or around the heart, a diagnosis that can be life-saving.
Cutting edge diagnostics can save lives
Ultrasound is useful to rule out potential diagnoses such as bladder stones or a bladder tumor with a persistent urinary tract infection. It can also be used for fine-needle aspirates, which are small biopsies of organs or masses, or to obtain urine from the bladder.
The bottom line is that ultrasound improves the quality of veterinary diagnosis and care. Our state-of-the-art Ultrasound equipment and diagnostic probes provide top of the line images for accurate diagnoses. Likewise, Dr. Luther has trained extensively in advanced ultrasound techniques to provide your pet with the best diagnostics available. This allows us to most accurately evaluate and treat your best friend.
Echocardiology
An ultrasound of the heart (echocardiogram) can evaluate the function of the heart and help us to diagnose specific heart diseases so that we can treat them appropriately.
The most current recommendations are to perform an Echo as soon as a murmur or arrhythmia is detected. This establishes a baseline and determines if any treatment is needed and how often to follow up with diagnostics. Recent studies have shown that appropriate therapy, based on Echocardiography, Blood Pressure, and an ECG can extend the lives of pets with heart disease significantly (often years) longer than with no therapy.
Using the best technology to help your furry friend
Ultrasound can help us differentiate between fluid in the lungs and dry lungs, and is often more accurate than radiographs. It can also help identify tumors in the lungs which may be too small to show up on chest radiographs.
Echocardiography and lung ultrasound improve the quality of veterinary diagnosis and care we can provide for your pet. Our state-of-the-art GE Ultrasound equipment and specific cardiac probes provide top of the line images for accurate diagnoses. Dr. Luther is certified through the Sound Institute and has trained extensively in advanced echocardiology techniques, including 2-D and M-Mode imaging as well as Color and Spectral Doppler to provide your pet with the best diagnostics available. Our cardiac examination includes a Board Certified Cardiology review for the most current treatment options available. This allows us to most accurately evaluate and treat your best friend.
When to act
It is imperative that heart disease is evaluated and treated at an early stage in order to prong your best friend’s quality of life.