These images can be shared with you on the consulting room screen when you collect your pet after his or her investigations.
X-rays are a type of radiation that can pass through the body. As they pass through the body, the energy from x-rays is absorbed at different rates by different parts of the body. A detector on the other side of the body picks up the x-rays after they’ve passed through and turns them into an image.
Dense parts of the body that x-rays find more difficult to pass through, such as bone, show up as clear white areas on the image, whereas softer parts that x-rays pass through more easily, such as internal organs, show up as darker areas.
An x-ray is a very effective way of looking at the bones in the body and can be used to help detect and diagnose a range of problems and illnesses.
Problems that can be be detected using an X-ray include:
- Fractured and/or broken bones
- Lung problems such as pneumonia
- Dental abscesses and problems with tooth roots
- Intestinal blockages
- Hernias
- Non-cancerous and cancerous tumours
- Joint problems such as degeneration, arthritis and infections
- Heart problems, such as heart failure and heart enlargement
- Bladder blockages and urinary stones
For the best quality, diagnostic x-rays, most patients will require a sedation or general anaesthetic, because they need to keep very still. However, for emergency trauma cases (such as road traffic accidents) it is possible to take an x-ray without the need for anaesthesia to give the vet a general idea of the problems.