Chest X-rays are a common procedure veterinarians do and are often included in senior wellness packages. You may be wondering why? Chest x-rays are very helpful in diagnosing a myriad of health issues. Radiographs of the chest can help your vet diagnose breathing problems in your cat or dog. Chest x-rays can show collapsed trachea, asthma, and pneumonia. They can even be used to screen for cancer as it often metastasizes to the lungs.
Veterinarians can send your pet's x-rays to specialist radiologists who have extensive experience and can discover issues your vet might miss. From the time we adopted him, our rescue dog Legend has always had especially heavy panting due most likely to an untreated respiratory infection as a young pup. Over the years we have tracked the progression of scarring in his lungs and the comments from the radiologist specialist have been so helpful.
Having a series of x-rays over time, as in Legend’s case, can be helpful when tracking the progression of chronic conditions like collapsed trachea, lung scarring or asthma. X-rays may seem like a big investment, but in many cases, they can be life-saving as they can help your vet determine the right diagnosis and treatment for your cat or dog. In our case, they provided great relief that Legend’s liver cancer hadn’t metastasized and his worsening panting was due to aging and the normal progression of his lung scarring.
