FOR THE PET OWNER
Waves Mobile ACVIM brings advanced specialty medicine to you in your own trusted veterinary clinic.
Contact your family veterinarian to request a consultation today.
Waves provides advanced diagnostic services on-site at your trusted family veterinarian's clinic. We collaborate with your veterinarian to assist in the diagnosis of your pet's health, thus we do not make appointments with you the pet owner directly. Your appointment will be made through your veterinarian's office.
The information on this page is for pet owners, whom their family veterinarian has determined advanced diagnostics are necessary for the care of their family's pet.
Please scroll down to understand more about the procedure your pet will be undergoing and any preparation necessary before your pet's visit.
Advanced Diagnostic Services
Learn more about each procedure and how to prepare your pet for their diagnostic analysis.
Abdominal ultrasound
A non-invasive diagnostic technique that uses sound waves to create a picture or a sonogram of organs, tissues, and other structures inside the body. Unlike x-rays, ultrasounds don't use any radiation. The images can provide valuable information for diagnosing and treating a variety of diseases and conditions.
Your pet will likely be shaved in the target area. They will lay in a comfortable soft trough that helps them relax on their back.
Ultrasound guided fine needle aspirate (FNA)
Using ultrasound as a guide, a fine needle is inserted into an area of abnormal-appearing tissue and a sample is taken. The sample can help make a diagnosis. This is not the same as a biopsy, which requires a larger piece of tissue. With a biopsy the architecture of the tissue remains intact. FNA results are based on individual cells. The advantage of an FNA is that it is less invasive than a biopsy and typically does not require pain control for collection. FNA samples are usually diagnostic, but if they are not, then a biopsy may be required.
Most fine needle aspirates do not require sedation. On occasion, if the area being sampled is more sensitive or the pet needs to be very still, then sedation will be required. There is typically no recovery time from the FNA procedure.
Non-cardiac thoracic ultrasound
This ultrasound is focused on the structures within the chest other than the heart.
Your pet will likely be shaved in the target area. They will lay on their side for this examination.
Cervical ultrasound
This ultrasound highlights target area such as the thyroid gland.
The underside of the neck will be shaved. They will lay on their back and some animals require light sedation for this procedure.
Therapeutic abdominocentesis & thoracocentesis
When excess fluid accumulates in the space around the lungs (pleural space) or outside the organs in the abdominal cavity it can be beneficial to remove that fluid. When removing fluid from the lungs there is a risk of letting small amounts of air into the pleural space. This small amount of air does not typically cause complications.
The target area will be shaved, and sedation may be required.
Tru-cut biopsy
Ultrasound-guided needle biopsy is a well-tolerated and reliable procedure for providing a tissue diagnosis before definitive treatment.
Sedation and pain control are required for this type of biopsy. The recovery is typically a very short duration. In cases of liver biopsies a coagulation panel and platelet count are required before the procedure.