Expanding Our Care Capabilities: Ultrasound Imaging
- Dallas Duncan
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
The Comer Vet team bought itself a fantastic stocking stuffer toward the end of 2025. There’s now an in-house ultrasound, which joins Comer Vet’s X-ray to provide a powerful pair of diagnostic imaging tools.
“We can offer it to a client same-day, same-time, essentially, without having to set up something further down the road,” says Dr. Preston Russell, veterinarian at Comer Vet.
Prior to this purchase, vets worked with a mobile veterinary ultrasound specialist who visited clinics around the state. That meant that if a pet’s annual wellness exam or a sick visit showed further diagnostics were necessary, a second appointment had to be set up based on the specialist’s availability. Comer Vet will still consult with this specialist if a second opinion is necessary, but staff is excited to offer the imaging in-house now for the most part.
Russell says depending on each patient and what relevant lab results show, vets will decide whether to recommend ultrasound, X-ray, or both to further their diagnostic process. He says generally anything bone-related is examined with X-rays, and so are gastrointestinal foreign bodies. But if vets want to see what’s going on in a specific organ, ultrasounds are the preferred option.
“Oftentimes, we recommend both because they both give us two different aspects of what we’re looking for,” Russell says. “X-rays have been used for so long that that’s kind of the go-to first, but it’s still only a two-dimensional image. Yes, I can tell if there’s something abnormal vs. normal, but can’t necessarily say exactly where it’s located in the body — like, is it spleen, is it liver, is it intestinal?”
The Diagnostic Imaging Process
X-rays operate by emitting a burst of directed, high-energy electromagnetic radiation through an animal and onto a plate, which results in a flat image. Ultrasounds emit soundwaves through the animal, which then bounce back into a handheld tool called a transducer. The transducer is full of crystals that digitize the bounce-back pattern onto a screen.
“Based on what kind of tissue those soundwaves are hitting, it comes back a certain color of gray on our ultrasound. Then we can decide from there if it’s liver tissue, if it’s splenic tissue, if it’s intestinal tissue, things like that,” Russell says.
Ultrasound provides a three-dimensional image because the transducer is able to be moved around an individual organ rather than taking a single “photograph” through the body.
“X-ray, yes, we know there’s a problem. Ultrasound gives us a bit more finesse on where that problem is,” Russell says.
The appearance of different tissues, fluids, air, and bone is what can make one tool more useful than the other in a particular patient. In chest X-rays, for example, air shows up on the image as darkness. But since air does not produce soundwaves, air isn’t captured on an ultrasound.
“Fluid on an X-ray also looks very different, because it shows up as soft tissue,” Russell says. “On the ultrasound, again, soundwaves move through it, but they will hit what’s essentially on the other side and still bounce back. It actually looks like a black void on ultrasound, whereas it looks like white on an X-ray.”
Melissa Hegwood, receptionist at Comer Vet and pet parent, has had multiple experiences with diagnostic imaging at the clinic.
“X-rays are an important way for the doctors to decide if surgery is necessary, or if supportive care could work,” she says.
Her dog, Kovu, for example, has a history with eating things he shouldn’t. When he recently wouldn’t eat his dinner and breakfast, but vomited grass, Hegwood’s pet parent Spidey senses went off and she brought him in for imaging. Sure enough, an X-ray revealed the cause for concern was a sock lodged in his GI tract, and the vets recommended surgery to remove it before it caused further damage.
Expanding Imaging Options
Though Comer Vet has offered the ability to count fetal puppy and kitten via X-ray that shows their developing skeletons, the new ultrasound allows vets to do pregnancy-checks far sooner, as early as 21 days bred.
“We can’t do numbers with ultrasound for preg-checks,” Russell says. “That’s because it’s hard to count puppies or kittens on an ultrasound because of how the uterus is in the dog or cat. Another good one that we would like to do more of would be bladder ultrasounds.”
The bladder can be X-rayed as well, but a combination of images can provide deeper insight for vets. An X-ray image would provide a larger photo of the whole abdomen, allowing vets to see in general if there are stones in the bladder, urethra, or kidneys, and could allow for a more accurate count. Combining that with an ultrasound would pinpoint where in the organ the stones are located. Plus, because bladder stones have different chemical makeups depending on what causes them, some may not appear on X-ray but are easily visible via ultrasound.
Hegwood experienced this type of case as well with her cat, Boo.
“Boo had been going to the litterbox a lot more often than normal. I was concerned he had a [urinary tract infection] or possibly bladder stones,” Hegwood says.
She immediately scheduled an appointment with Comer Vet’s Dr. Mandy Adams. Adams ran a urinalysis on Boo, and though the diagnostic testing did not show signs of infection, there was blood in the sample that concerned her. She recommended diagnostic imaging as a next step.
“X-rays showed that he had about 10 tiny new bladder stones that had formed,” Hegwood says. “I was not really surprised, but it was not the news I was hoping for. However, I am thankful that we caught them before they got big enough to need another surgery.”
Because the stones were caught early, Adams was able to prescribe a special diet to dissolve them naturally so that Boo could pass them and avoid surgery.
Keeping Pets and Staff Safe
Some pet parents express concern with their animals undergoing X-rays due to the presence of radiation. Comer Vet does its best to minimize both pet and staff exposure.
“It takes a significant amount of exposure, repeatedly, over short periods of time to have any kind of true detrimental side effect. Most of our patients may have X-rays anywhere from one to maybe 10 times throughout their life, pending what we find and that kind of thing. [Comer Vet staff] take more X-rays than what a patient would get throughout a life, and we have our aprons and our little badges that tell us how much we get exposed to each time,” he says.
There’s a separate room in the treatment area used for X-rays. Before staff takes these images, they are required to wear specially designed lead aprons and thyroid protectors. Each staff member also has a personalized badge that tracks how much exposure they have in a given period of time. In addition, staff members who are pregnant are not permitted to be in the X-ray room.
X-rays produce minimal risk, and ultrasound has zero because it uses soundwaves. Ultrasound imaging can be done in the main treatment area. Exotic patients can undergo diagnostic imaging as well, Russell says, though there are some limitations for turtles and tortoises due to their shells.
Comer Vet staff may recommend pets be sedated before having X-rays and ultrasounds done. This ensures the patient can remain calm throughout the procedure, which improves their stress levels, image quality, and safety for both pet and staff.
“In most cases, these are just medications to help mellow them out, not put them out completely,” Russell says. “Any patient that is very active or hyper, or has the potential to be aggressive, then for sure those get sedation.”
After having multiple experiences with diagnostic imaging, Hegwood says she’s comfortable with them for any of her pets, and adds they’re quick ways to get some answers when time is important.
“I am not concerned about risks with X-rays,” Hegwood says. “Compared to death by intestinal blockage or having an unnecessary surgery, any side effects of the X-ray are negligible.”
To schedule your pet's next appointment at Comer Vet, please give us a call at 706-783-5111 or request an appointment through our online form.
