Kowloon Veterinary Hospital (KVH) is fully equipped with a specialized vet specific Petmap colour doppler ultrasound scanner, to assist in the assessment of your pet’s condition.
For complex cases we have an internationally trained Canadian Ultrasoundographer who works for KVH as in-house consultant. This means that our patients do not have to be referred, they can stay at KVH.
An ultrasound scan is a very important tool that KVH vets use to diagnose diseases in animals, particularly for conditions involving soft tissues, such as those found in the abdomen, or the heart. Ultrasound scanning is a safe and painless procedure that uses high frequency sound waves to produce images of structures within the body. When sound waves are directed into the body, body tissues absorb some and others bounce back. The sound waves that bounce back are measured by the ultrasound machine and are transformed into an image on a screen. The images can be printed or recorded.
Our KVH vets have received extensive training to correctly use this equipment and interpret these images. Ultrasound scans are most useful for looking at soft or fluid-filled organs; like the liver, kidney, bladder and heart. It is less effective for examining bones or air-filled organs, such as the lungs. Patients are usually admitted into the KVH hospital for the day when they have an ultrasound scan done, unless it is an emergency and we’ll do it immediately. In order to get the best images possible, some pets may need sedation to keep them still. This is why we ask you to bring your pet in unfed on the morning of admission.
Usually the area to be scanned will be clipped (shaved.) During the scan a water-soluble gel is applied over the clipped area to be examined and a transducer (the ultrasound probe) is placed on the skin. Once the scan is completed we will give you a call or book an appointment for our veterinarians to show you the images and to discuss the diagnosis and treatment plan for your pet.
