Mobile Pet Ultrasound Imaging
Ultrasonography, a safe and advanced imaging technique, serves as a non-invasive diagnostic tool allowing veterinarians to delve into your pet’s internal anatomy. WonderVet employs a specialised ultrasound scan known as AFAST (Abdominal-focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma, Triage, and Tracking).
This examination enables our vets to evaluate a furry patient’s abdomen or chest for any fluid presence. Our state-of-the-art mobile equipment means that many of our doctors can perform mobile pet ultrasound imaging in the comfort of your home.
Mobile Pet Ultrasound
Diagnostic imaging like a veterinary ultrasound sometimes becomes necessary to diagnose your pet’s condition, ensuring the provision of the best medical care moving forward.
What is Pet Ultrasound Imaging?
Pet diagnostic imaging, such as ultrasound, helps your veterinary doctor or specialist diagnose conditions like GI tract and heart disorders, bladder stones, and pregnancy, which might otherwise be missed on a routine physical exam. An ultrasound machine employs sound waves to create images called sonograms.
Our Process
Mobile pet ultrasound imaging services are generally a pain-free process for your pet. However, medications may be prescribed in advance to keep your pet calm during the process, and sedation may be required occasionally to keep your pet still and stress-free. Some images might necessitate consultation with a board-certified cardiologist or another specialist for interpretation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Veterinary ultrasound is a safe and non-invasive imaging technique helping veterinarians to examine your pet’s internal anatomy and diagnose certain health conditions. Depending on your location, most of our mobile vets can provide an AFAST scan in your home’s comfort, where your pet feels most relaxed.
Ultrasound imaging provides a closer look at your pet’s internal organs and systems, aiding us in determining whether your pet requires surgery. Small ultrasound units assist our doctors in obtaining sterile urine samples or seeking fluid accumulation in undesired places. A larger ultrasound unit non-invasively aids in identifying problems with your pet’s GI tract, kidneys, liver, heart, and other soft tissue organs if you or your veterinarian have concerns.
The cost of a pet ultrasound varies depending on the veterinary practice. To determine the cost of a mobile pet ultrasound with one of our veterinarians, simply visit our website or mobile app, and enter your postcode and the service you would like to schedule (in this case, an ultrasound appointment). You’ll be able to check whether the service is available in your area and review the home visit’s total cost before confirming.
The coverage of pet ultrasound costs by pet insurance varies from plan to plan. Some companies may cover it as a diagnostic service.
Yes, your pet’s fur might need to be shaved to perform an ultrasound examination accurately. It is best to make direct contact with your pet’s skin for the most accurate ultrasound exam.
Usually, a pet ultrasound takes approximately 30-60 minutes. Some pets tolerate an ultrasound fine without sedation, while others may need sedation to stay calm and still during the painless procedure.
A positron emission tomography (or PET scan) works by using radiation to show activity within a pet’s body on a cellular level and is often used as a tool to diagnose cancer, neurological, and heart issues. A pet ultrasound works by using sound waves to create images.
While faecal exams or blood tests are typically effective means of diagnosing worms, parasites, and heartworm in your pet, an ultrasound might show worms in the pancreas or liver.
Your vet may advise you to have your pet fast for 12 hours before a scan. This allows for better images without food or gas artefacts in the stomach or intestines and also enables us to sedate if necessary. We will need to clip the hair which we then soak with water or alcohol and apply a coupling gel to minimise air between the probe and the skin – this gives us the best image. For focused exams, we do not typically need to clip the hair; we simply part the hair in the area to be examined and apply either water or alcohol and use a coupling gel.
Your pet will usually stay lying on its right side for the entire scan, either on the floor or on a raised bed and maintaining the recumbent position while your veterinarian performs the scan. All images are saved onto our state-of-the-art portable ultrasound machine, before being uploaded to our secure database later the same day and reviewed by your ultrasound-trained veterinarian.
You should expect your pet’s ultrasound results within 24-48 hours.
