Locke A. Taylor Veterinary Hospital Diagnostic Services
Digital Radiology Services at Locke A. Taylor Veterinary Hospital
Radiographs, known as X-rays, are one of the most common and useful diagnostic tools in medicine. Dr. Taylor's office uses digital X-rays to examine your pet's bones, lungs, heart, abdomen, oral cavity and other areas, and for diagnosing and monitoring many medical and surgical conditions. If we suspect your pet has a fractured bone, has swallowed a foreign object or is suffering from a heart problem, an X-ray can tell us what we need to know.
To provide you with the highest quality veterinary care for your pet, Locke A. Taylor Veterinary Hospital has invested in a state-of-the-art digital X-ray machine. There are many important advantages to digital X-rays:
- They are immediately able to be viewed on a computer monitor.
- The clear, detailed images can be manipulated to get a better view of your pet's bones and internal organs, leading to a faster and more accurate diagnosis.
- They take less time to process, which means less time for your pet on the X-ray table (and less stress), and less waiting time for you.
- No harsh chemicals are needed to develop the images, reducing potential harm to our staff and the environment.
- If a second opinion is necessary, digital X-rays can be sent by email to a specialist.
The investment in digital X-ray technology reflects the hospital's commitment to offer you and your pet the best, most comprehensive healthcare available.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a painless, safe, non-invasive procedure that we use to evaluate your pet's internal organs. It is one of the many ways we strive to give you peace of mind when it comes to your pet's health. Using sound waves, ultrasound produces a real-time moving picture of your pet's organs that allows us to visualize objects that cannot be detected by X-rays alone.
At Locke A. Taylor Veterinary Hospital, we use ultrasound to assess the shape, size, tissue density, internal structure, and position of your pet's abdominal organs. It's also used to assess cardiac health and diagnose pregnancy. Ultrasound can also be used to identify masses or tumors and as a guide during surgical biopsies.
The ultrasound procedure takes between 30 to 60 minutes to perform and, unless it is being used during a surgical biopsy, does not typically require sedation. A diagnosis based on what we see is usually available immediately, which means we can also provide you with treatment options at the time of your appointment and minimize your worry and stress.
We have the tools and capability to perform abdominal ultrasounds, obstetric ultrasounds and trucut guided biopsies. Call us at (804) 262-8629 to learn more about your ultrasound services.
Endoscopy Services in the Greater Richmond Area
Endoscopy is a minimally invasive diagnostic procedure commonly used to evaluate the interior surfaces of your pet's organs through a small tube inserted into his or her body. An endoscopic examination can often accurately diagnose what is causing your pet's vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain or swelling, loss of appetite or respiratory problems.
Although anesthesia is required to keep pets still during the endoscopic procedure, the recovery time is minimal. The benefits of endoscopy over exploratory surgery include: no surgical incision, shortened anesthetic time, decreased inflammation, less stress and discomfort and an earlier return to normal function for your pet.
Accurate diagnosis of your pet's symptoms begins with an ability to put together as complete and accurate a picture of what is going on inside your pet's body as possible. For that reason, endoscopy is recommended when routine blood and urine tests, radiographs and ultrasound do not give us the complete diagnostic picture.
At Locke A. Taylor Veterinary Hospital, endoscopies are also used for non-invasive exploratory procedures, biopsies, foreign body removal and rhinoscopy.
In-House Laboratory
Locke A. Taylor D.V.M. Animal and Medicine Surgery has a full-service diagnostic laboratory complete with a suite of Idexx and Abaxis technology that allows us to perform complete blood counts, chemistry profiles, electrolytes, urinalysis, fecal exams and cytology evaluations. With an advanced laboratory, we have the ability to analyze how well your pet's internal organs and processes are functioning.
Laboratory testing provides information about your pet's overall systemic health without the need for invasive and expensive procedures. We maintain a complete in-house laboratory and regularly test your pet during wellness exams, or when we suspect your pet may have a health issue.
This state-of-the-art laboratory allows us to provide you and your pet with quick and—most importantly —accurate results, which are essential to emergent and critical care cases. We can often have results within 15 minutes for many tests.
If your pet needs additional diagnostic testing, we work closely with several outside laboratories in the Richmond, VA area to provide quick results.