What happens if there is still no diagnosis after dog diagnostic imaging?

We offer imaging x-rays, an ultrasound of the abdomen, and an echocardiogram of the heart. If we feel like we don't have all the answers, we could refer to a specialist. We could also try a test dose of medication. If we feel like we know what may be going on but can't exactly diagnose that without a doubt, we can test with medications to see if your pet responds to that. And sometimes you have to do that because the client can't afford the MRI or the CT scan, something like that. There might be times when we take follow-up images. That could be done if we might not see the problem today, like if your pet is vomiting, if they have something that's hurt, or if their breathing is not good. If you are very in tune with your pet and you've called this early, there may not be many changes that show up in the imaging. Then we may say, we're going to follow up with you in a week or two weeks or whatever that time period may be, and we'll repeat those images. That's a really good tool because, again, we may have what was today and compare that to what is later to see those changes that could be more obvious or different.

If there's no diagnosis after diagnostic imaging, it depends on which one. If there's nothing after the x-rays and we've tried other things and your animal is not getting better, we may recommend more advanced diagnostic imaging. If all of those things are done, then typically working closely with a specialist in a certain field is where we would go.

Even if we don't have a definitive answer after all these tests, we would have ruled out a long list of diseases. We have to be able to sit here and clinically look at the diagnostics you have done, what the patient is doing, and build a list of things that maybe aren't so common. We may have to do additional testing to get there. If we reach a point where we've exhausted all testing resources here, we may consider a referral to internal medicine or surgery. We may also consider more sensitive testing that we can't do here. It can be frustrating not to have all the answers right away, but please know that we are persistent and will work as a team to figure out what's going on with your pet.