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Companion MRI is focused on delivering the most advanced technology available to veterinary medicine. Our MRI's were previously in service at major human hospitals. Companion MRI offers a full-time, dedicated staff focused on improving the results for veterinary patients. To get a personal tour of our facility and learn more about our standard of care please call any of our locations.

What is an MRI?

Veterinary care has undergone an explosion over the past 15 years. Many pet owners now seek the best possible therapies for veterinary care. In the realm of veterinary neurology, special imaging (MRI or CAT scans) is integral to providing non-invasive diagnostic modalities.

Veterinary medicine has evolved into a hierarchy such as that seen in human medicine. There are primary care practioners (PCPs), and there are specialists. Many residency-trained veterinary specialties include areas such as neurology, surgery, oncology, cardiology, internal medicine, dermatology, and ophthalmology.

In recent years, specialty centers have developed to provide services to the PCPs and their clients/patients. These specialty centers use leading technologies to deal with the constantly evolving, complex medical problems seen in veterinary patients. Clients are normally referred by their PCP to the centers to see a specialist. Most specialty centers do not see general practice problems and strictly see patients referred for a particular problem.

MRI technology has only been around since 1980 and did not gain widespread use in the human field until the late 1980's and early 1990's. In veterinary medicine, high costs prohibited the use of MRI in animals.

For example, without an MRI available, animals that have spinal cord problems are evaluated with a myelogram. A myelogram is necessary because the spinal cord cannot be visualized on a regular radiograph. A myelogram is performed by injecting a contrast substance (dye) around the spinal cord through a spinal tap. Radiographs are then taken to evaluate the spinal cord.

This procedure has many disadvantages. The risks can be significant. Consider:

• Many animals are neurologically worse after this procedure o there is a chance of seizures.
• It is time consuming and difficult to perform on very small or very large patients.
• It requires a spinal tap in every case.
• It often provides incomplete or inconclusive results due to many variables such as swelling, incomplete filling, or poor radiographic technique.

With the use of an MRI, the animals are completely intact after the procedure; there is no increased chance of seizures, it is less time consuming, it can be performed on any size animal, it allows you to perform a spinal tap only when absolutely necessary, it is nearly always gives definitive results, and is not affected by swelling.

The only disadvantage of an MRI is that it can be a few hundred dollars ($200-$300) more expensive than a myelogram. For further proof of the procedure's value, MRI's can also be used to evaluate other areas of the body such as joints, brain, middle and inner ear, abdominal organs (kidneys, liver, adrenal glands, pancreas), and soft tissue problems (thyroid glands, soft tissue tumors). Most clients who pursue a referral to a specialist understand the cost of treatment and are willing to pay for the safest and most diagnostic modalities.