One of my cats needs an ultrasound of his abdomen. He may have a rare kidney disease or possibly cancer.
I can get this done locally (10 minute drive) using a radiologist or travel about 24 minutes and use the internal medicine vet. My cat gets stressed as soon as I walk out the door with him. He meows the entire car ride. I'm supposed to give him 50 mg of Gabapentin about 2 hrs before I leave to calm his nerves.
The radiologist travels to the vet clinic I use, so at least my cat will be in a familiar environment. The overall time he spends there should be much shorter than if I go to the internal medicine vet. In both options, I am not permitted to be present during the exam. I also plan to get an ultrasound of the heart, but it would be with these same doctors, not with a cardiologist.
I know the internal medicine vet actually specializes in kidney disease. But it looks like a radiologist can interpret the ultrasound better because they have more training in that area. So I don't know which option to go with. My vet has not been helpful in giving me information. I believe they prefer one over the other, but I believe that may be based on personality. I don't think they want to influence my decision.
I've been trying to look up the difference between a radiologist and internal medicine vet online, but can't find helpful info. Does anyone know anything about this?
From what I've been told, in this case, the radiologist does the ultrasound with the regular vet or a tech present. So if something questionable were found, they may be able to do an ultrasound on other areas of the body than what was originally agreed upon. Whereas the internal medicine vet only does the parts they agreed upon before the exam.
I can get this done locally (10 minute drive) using a radiologist or travel about 24 minutes and use the internal medicine vet. My cat gets stressed as soon as I walk out the door with him. He meows the entire car ride. I'm supposed to give him 50 mg of Gabapentin about 2 hrs before I leave to calm his nerves.
The radiologist travels to the vet clinic I use, so at least my cat will be in a familiar environment. The overall time he spends there should be much shorter than if I go to the internal medicine vet. In both options, I am not permitted to be present during the exam. I also plan to get an ultrasound of the heart, but it would be with these same doctors, not with a cardiologist.
I know the internal medicine vet actually specializes in kidney disease. But it looks like a radiologist can interpret the ultrasound better because they have more training in that area. So I don't know which option to go with. My vet has not been helpful in giving me information. I believe they prefer one over the other, but I believe that may be based on personality. I don't think they want to influence my decision.
I've been trying to look up the difference between a radiologist and internal medicine vet online, but can't find helpful info. Does anyone know anything about this?
From what I've been told, in this case, the radiologist does the ultrasound with the regular vet or a tech present. So if something questionable were found, they may be able to do an ultrasound on other areas of the body than what was originally agreed upon. Whereas the internal medicine vet only does the parts they agreed upon before the exam.