It's possible that it might. I would say, a lot of the time, the one we choose first, which we feel is the best, will probably give us the most answers. There are situations where it doesn't like if we see something on an x-ray, which I kind of describe as a big picture, our ultrasound kind of zeros in on that. If we see something that looks like a mass or a tumor in the abdomen, we might want to know what it is attached to and what the likely cause is. So after a big picture x-ray, an ultrasound can go in and look at the individual organs, like the kidney or the spleen. We want to see where the suspicious mass is and what it's attached to. We may not see other things, like fluid, which are more sensitive on ultrasound than on an x-ray. So you try to prioritize and start with what might give you your answer, and then it may lead you to further diagnostics. But you start with the one you feel might give you the highest yield.

I would say the most accurate tool depends on the best position we can get on a pet. So there may be a reason we take an x-ray because maybe the pet wouldn't do well with an ultrasound. Some of that depends on the type of sickness or injury, and some of that depends on the patient and what the pet allows us to do.

Often, it depends on what we're looking for and what's going on with the pet. For instance, if it is limping on a leg, we would choose an x-ray over an ultrasound. If it has an upset stomach or is vomiting, we may want an ultrasound, which will show a little more detail in the abdomen than the big picture of an x-ray would. So it depends on what you need to find out, which kind of ties into the next question.

That's a great question. The diagnostic imaging itself doesn't cause pain, but the positions they need to be in to get the best image might. For instance, if your pet comes in and it's limping or has a hurt paw, and we have to stretch that paw out to get an x-ray, that could be uncomfortable for them. An ultrasound is non-invasive, but they may have to be still for long enough to get the ultrasound and see the images. That's simply a probe on the touch of the skin. So it's not necessarily a painful procedure, but because of what they're getting imaged for, they might be in some pain.

For x-rays, most of our patients are fairly cooperative in what we're asking them to do. If they're not sedated, the two most common positions are lying on the side view and lying on the back view. So they lay on a table, and we take a picture of them. We may try to help them be calmer by petting them and talking calmly to them. It's a darker room, so there's less stimulus. Then, if we need to give them anything to calm them, we'll do that as well. We have to use some gentle restraint to keep them still, but most of them are very cooperative. Some of them are not, and that's when the sedation comes in.

Something we take for granted, which you may not know, is that we are in the x-ray room with them. If they are sedated, we may position them and step out of the x-ray room. But our x-ray is set up in a way that our technicians or assistants are with your pet, so they're not left alone. A lot of times, when we go have x-rays, the technician will step out of the room, and we're totally by ourselves, but we can't tell a pet to just stay in a strange area in a strange position. So we're in there with them, they're not left alone, and we're helping them get the best image needed for the veterinarian. The calmer they are, the faster we can work and get that image for you.