Yes! We, too, want to decrease the stress level for both you and your pet, so we encourage you to be present during the ultrasound. Our patients do not get dropped off and left alone to face this unknown place alone. We aim to have you and your pet in and out the door in an hour or less. When the owners are present for the ultrasound, we find that the pets are much more comfortable and less likely to require additional sedation. At times having the owner there will backfire on us, and the pet will become extra squirrely, so we sometimes ask for you to step back into the lobby area, but this does not happen often.

Our telespecialists typically have our reports in your veterinarian’s hands within 12-24 hours.

Kind of. A veterinarian must recommend that your pet undergo an ultrasound, but they do not need to refer you to us. Often a veterinarian will refer families to others that can perform ultrasounds. Still, families find out they can stay with their pets at Veterinary Diagnostic Centers and choose us over the other options.

We strongly recommend oral sedatives being prescribed by your referring veterinarian to ensure a smooth process. Pets coming in for abdominal ultrasounds need to have fasted for 8-12 hours, have a full bladder (don’t let them pee from the car to our door!), and will have their abdomens shaved by the VDC team upon arrival. Cardiac ultrasounds don’t need the pet to fast or to have a full bladder but the oral sedatives can go a long way!

No, we do not have a veterinarian on-site at all times. Our role of simply performing ultrasound studies and collecting lab samples does not require the presence of a veterinarian. If you feel your pet has an emergency, please call your veterinarian or one of the veterinary emergency services in your area.

Your veterinarian may order just an ultrasound, or they may recommend a full remote consultation with a specialist. When a full consultation is recommended, we may collect extra data such as ECG, blood and urine samples, blood pressure, and even audio of your pet’s heart with a digital stethoscope. Then we couple this data with your veterinarian’s complete history, including previous test results and treatments. With this information, the specialist creates a report to share with your veterinarian’s suspected diagnosis, prognosis, treatments, further testing that may be recommended, and follow-up schedules.

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