Diagnostic Tools Improve Animal Care

Every day, without fail, Katie the Scottish terrier met John at the door ready to take their afternoon walk. One afternoon, John noticed a lump on Katie’s back as the low angle of the afternoon sun illuminated her shiny coat. Terrorized by the thought of a tumor, he immediately scheduled an appointment with his veterinarian.

Diagnostic tests and the most up-to-date tools — from lasers to ultrasound — are changing veterinary medicine, increasing lifespan and dramatically improving the quality of life for our pets.

Today’s veterinary medicine focuses on “Diagnose Before You Treat” — a mantra for high-tech veterinarians such as Dr. Steve Garner of Safari Animal Care Centers in League City, Texas.

Sophisticated pet owners demand more than an educated diagnostic guess from their veterinarians. Thanks to the new highly advanced tools being used in human medicine and now surfacing in veterinary medicine, veterinarians can pinpoint problems at the earliest stages.

Bumps and lumps such as the one on Katie are very common on pets. Once veterinarians took a “wait-and-see” approach. No more. The advent of digital cameras and the Internet allows veterinarians to decide whether this bump is just a nuisance or a threat to your pet’s life.

A pioneer in the use of technology solutions, Garner uses his telemedicine system to photograph the cells collected from the bump and then sends this photograph over the Internet to a world-renowned cytopathologist who can rapidly interpret the potential threat. This inexpensive technology allows veterinarians access to the world’s top specialists. The resulting information will determine whether the veterinarian monitors the mass or does a lumpectomy or a radical tumor removal.

Another new tool in veterinary practices is the laser. Lasers offer many advantages over traditional surgical methods. According to Garner, the carbon dioxide laser frequency excites the water in the cells being targeted, causing their immediate vaporization while leaving adjacent cells untouched. It’s like killing all the bad guys while the good guys don’t get a scratch. Laser surgery does not require touching the tissues, thus preventing contamination with infectious organisms.

In the case of tumor excision, there is no chance of transplanting the cells from the tumor just removed into a new site, which can happen with a scalpel blade. The laser’s precision and frequency result in reduced blood loss, less post-operative inflammation, decreased cross-contamination, quicker healing and much less pain.

Laser surgery is ideal for many procedures, including declawing of cats, tumor removal and surgery of highly vascular areas such as the mouth and reproductive systems. Minor procedures are also easier because a small bump, cyst or tumor can be removed during an office visit with little pain, discomfort or bleeding and with no sutures required.

Garner found a firm mass about the size of a quarter that extended through the skin deep into the muscle on Katie’s back. He gently told John that this situation should be hit head on. He used a small needle to extract cells that he prepared and examined under the microscope. He then sent the images over the Internet to a specialist. Katie would have surgery the next day, but how much of the tumor should be removed? Should this be a lumpectomy or a radical excision to stem its spread? Should a laser be used or is this just a cyst that could be taken out with a scalpel?

Thanks to technology, Garner and John would quickly find out.

The next morning, John learned that Katie had a Grade 1 mast cell tumor requiring surgical excision by a laser. Katie responded well, and frequent recheck visits will guard against recurrence.

Thanks to a correct early diagnosis, a global network of experts joined together to save lives, and revolutionary advances in medical treatments, Katie and millions of beloved pets can be restored to health and continue to bring happiness to their human family for many years to come.