VetArtis

06/04/2025

A case of suspected hypercortalism (hyperadrenocorticism) in a cat.

Often the clues to a diagnosis are not the ultrasound scan findings but in the history and clinical findings. This is why I ask for the history in advance of all my scanning cases.

This cat was booked for an abdominal ultrasound scan due to massive muscle loss with a large belly, polydipsia and polyphagia, and proteinuria. However, when clipping the fur in preparation for the scan I noticed this cat also had very thin skin which tore easy without bleeding, key findings in Feline Skin Fragility Syndrome.

With my medicine knowledge, I recognised this could be hypercortalism/hyperadrenocorticism and indeed both adrenal glands were mildly enlarged. And I remember back to the last cat I diagnosed with this condition... testing, treatment and prognosis.

This is the extra you get for the services of VetArtis - this is not just an ultrasound scan. You get to access my advanced level of knowledge and extensive experience in medicine and cardiology. I also don't mind being asked about other question or even non-clinical things - this is a full package to support practices and vets.

VetArtis - helping vets to help the pets.

20/03/2025

I just wanted to let my veterinary cardiology minded colleagues know about an amazing cardiology resource. It is full of webinars, some of which are live with discussion, a great discussion group for anything cardiology related and fantastic for getting other opinions on tricky cases, and it's all run by a great Dimplomat cardiologist Laurent Locquet. I've been a member for a month now and it really has pushed my cardiology further and is a great boost to a cardiology certificate.

I'm not affiliated with the group or host and I pay the monthly subscription. I just think that this cardio club is the best 🙂

I'll put the link in the comments or you can find it by searching for Veterinary Cardio Club or contacting Laurent

The Veterinary Community for Cardiology Enthusiasts

01/03/2025

Help name my canine helpers!

When I teach ultrasound, not all my canine helpers are actual dogs. For demonstrating positioning and probe movements or using the amazing mixed reality ultrasound simulator, I use these soft toy dogs. I can set them up to practice lateral or dorsal positioning or standing scanning, which is great to practice POCUS and TFAST protocols.

They don't move or get stressed like real dogs.

So help me name my canine helpers - what names do you suggest?

14/02/2025

Never stop searching for your purpose.

I've spent many years thinking about and exploring my values but found myself confused about my purpose. I've always wanted to be a vet; I LOVE being a vet!

Well this past year I've discovered my purpose. And it is being a vet AND it's helping people. It's
teaching! And I love it!

So never stop searching for your purpose and how you can change the world. It may take you 20 years or 20 minutes, but the journey is fun too.

And if you'd like me to change your life in the sphere of ultrasound scanning small animals, then please contact me.

Because my purpose is... helping vets to help the pets.

01/02/2025

This week has been hairless patient week! It makes the heart scans easier!

23/01/2025

The secret to compliant cats during ultrasound examinations? Pre-examination gabapentin and liquid cat treats! See how fixated this cat is on the treat and this is at the end of the heart scan!

There are other factors and not just the patient temperament - the environment in which the cat waited prior to the scan (barking dogs are a no-no), gentle cat friendly handling, pheromone or herbal sprays, quiet clippers, and warmed ultrasound gel are the main ones. But the gabapentin and liquid treats are the game changer!

Don't get me wrong, some patients need sedation for their welfare and our safety.

What have you tried with cats to enable ultrasound examinations without needing sedation?

13/01/2025

I'm off on my travels again. This time to teach the second day of my abdominal ultrasound course in Glasgow.

If you're interested in increasing your, or your practice's, skills in ultrasound then please get in contact and I can let you know what I offer. I have courses in general abdominal scanning, advanced abdominal scanning, one day thoracic &focused cardiac scanning, multi-day echocardiography from basic to advanced level.

I pride myself in giving you the best learning experience by using a variety of training methods in small groups.

I look forward to hearing from you!

04/01/2025

The 12 days of Christmas - ultrasound edition...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a cat with short colon syndrome.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me two spleens in a dog.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me feline bicavitary effusions.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a puppy brain scan.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me parathyroid gland scans.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true live gave to me a cat with DCM.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me my first bubble study.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me many varied arrhythmias.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me gastrointestinal foreign bodies.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me gallbladder mucocoeles.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me feline gastric lymphoma.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a very large pyometra.

31/12/2024

The end of another revolution around the sun and time to look at the highlights of 2024. Firstly work related highlights...

🐕 I helped many pets get the appropriate treatment and their owners the answers by performing
❤ over 250 heart scans this year, including 87 on cats 🐈
🐕 and over 200 abdominal scans!!! No wonder I feel like it's been a busy year.

📢 I spoke at a public conference for the first time, at the London Vet Show in November. And despite feeling like an imposter before hand, I loved the experience and would like to do this again!

👩‍🏫 I fell in love with teaching and helped 6 practices with in-practice ultrasound training, at all levels, abdominal and echo. I also got to travel to Portugal and teach echo skills for a whole week to an amazing bunch of people! .dias.vetpreneur And started a new teaching collaboration with and Catherine Stowell.

✈️ To further my ultrasound knowledge, I travelled to Poland for a week long advanced ultrasound course with .eu
And to Florence for an amazing conference cover my three favourite subjects in veterinary - ultrasound, medicine and cardiology - with I also shadowed the cardiology team with .ferasin

Picture of one of my gumpy faced by truly sweet patients from this year!

07/12/2024

Just back from Florence and the amazing Sonopath Summit. I'm looking forward to the next one already!

30/10/2024

It is only a couple of weeks until the London Vet Show. I will be a speaker this year for the first time but I am also looking forward to some catch-ups and networking. I would love to meet up and chat with you!

I am looking for connections in:
- post-graduate teaching and CPD delivery
- ultrasound machine, hiring, ultrasound phantoms and simulators
- setting up online courses and social media management
- mental health challenges in the profession especially around burnout

I can help with:
- teaching ultrasound (abdominal and echocardiology, companion animal) and empowering vets in practice to use this valuable diagnostic tool to get the best from it
- challenging the way we think about issues in the vet profession
- writing well research non-clinical articles on issues in the vet profession
- mentoring and coaching in ultrasound, medicine and cardiology
- entrepreneurship
- EBVM

Please contact me if you'd like to chat at LVS or at any other time. I will be speaking on Thursday 14th November at 15:55 in the BVA Career Development theatre on 'Taking Positives From Redundancy'.

19/10/2024

The end of a busy week with lots of interesting abdominal scans. Can you tell what I am scanning here?

Some weeks I do mainly heart scans, but this weeks was mainly abdominal scans including some interesting and unique cases. Highlights:

🆘️ An emergency scan on an acutely ill dog suspected of foreign body ingestion and gastrointestinal obstruction. The scanned ruled out gastrointestinal obstruction and so escalating medical treatment was recommended.

🐈 A cat with chronic diarrhoea in which I diagnosed short-colon syndrome. Luckily a paper was published earlier this year which described the diagnostic imaging findings in a case series, very useful for a rare condition.

🐈‍⬛ Two cats with bicavitary effusions, one predominantly pleural fluid, the other ascites. Ultrasound used to rule out heart failure or pericardial effusion, find abnormalities in the abdomen and ultrasound-guided biopsies taken to hopefully give a diagnosis.

🐩 A tiny young dog with vague behavioural and urinary signs. Ultrasound showed tiny bilateral adrenal glands and used to rule out hydrocephalus by scanning the brain through the open fontennelle (the video in this post).

🐕 A dog that has been jaundiced for two weeks with raised cholestatic and hepatocellular enzymes. Ultrasound showed evidence of peritonitis, a very happy gallbladder and pancreatic changes. Immediate referral instigated.

So lots of interesting cases where ultrasound has been vital in reaching a diagnosis. What interesting ultrasound cases have you seen this wee?

17/09/2024

VetArtis has new wheels! I call her 'many shades of grey'!

16/09/2024

Do you want to be ultrasound empowered and are you ready to start your ultrasound journey? Or perhaps you have been using ultrasound for a time but feel a lack of confidence and recognise it’s time to consolidate your skills.

This 2-day engaging and comprehensive attendance course on small animal abdominal ultrasound is designed to cover the theory and practical aspects which will get you going and moving on your ultrasound journey. This highly practical course will go beyond theory or online courses, allowing building of practical skills and participation in discussions around use of ultrasound.

- 2-day small animal abdominal ultrasound course for beginners and improvers.
- 17th and 18th October, 9:30-5:30 each day, arrival from 9:00am
Location – The Home Office, Tring, Hertfordshire
- Small group (maximum 6 people).
- Theory and lots of practical scanning time including games and fun. Lots of probe time with live dogs, use of phantoms and other learning aids.
- Delicious lunch from local restaurants and refreshments through the day included.
- Included is one Veterinary Ultrasound Pocket Guide Abdominal edition, plastic card version, per delegate.
- Price only £1000+VAT
- Bring a dog suitable for scanning and receive a £100 discount on the course.

If you are interested, then please contact me by emailing me at [email protected] or call/message on 07421320662 and I can answer any questions you may have about the course. Places on the course are strictly limited and on a first come, first served basis. See more information on my website at https://www.vetartis.co.uk/abdominal-ultrasound-course.../

I will be holding more ultrasound courses next year, covering abdominal ultrasound beginners/intermediate and advanced abdominal scanning, heart scanning beginners & intermediate, POCUS for vets and nurse, and an Escape to Scotland. If you are interested, please contact me and I can put you on my contact list for when these courses are organised.

23/07/2024

Can dogs and cats hear your ultrasound machine?

Ultrasonic just means that the sound's frequency is above that of normal sounds that humans can hear.
Since dogs have quite sensitive hearing, they can hear different frequencies of ultrasonic sounds.
Ultrasonic sounds can come from a variety of devices and many of those items can be household objects.
Many animals are able to hear ultrasonic frequencies, and that includes dogs. Dogs are able to hear sounds as high as 50,000 Hz, but it is more likely they can hear sounds up to 65,000 Hz. If we compare this to humans, humans can only hear frequencies up to 20,000 Hz.

Dogs have evolved to hear in those ranges, and some of their prey (rodents) make noises in that frequency range. So it is not necessarily true that they find ultrasonic frequencies painful or distressing.

Ultrasound frequencies in diagnostic radiology range from 2 MHz to approximately 15 MHz. This is way above what dogs or cats can hear, so although they can hear ultrasonic sound, they can’t hear frequencies anywhere near ultrasound machine beam. The ultrasound machine may make electrical whines or keyboard clicks that they can hear, but this is the same for any machine including this laptop I am writing this on!

So you don’t need to worry, your dog cannot hear the ultrasound examination.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

24/02/2024

I love finding new ways to explain things when I teach. Why? All the ultrasound courses I have ever done were all taught in the same way and that way just did not work for my understanding. Who else did not fully understand? I suspect a lot of the attendees.

When learning how to ultrasound, whether abdomen or hearts, the 3D anatomy is vital to understand. And not just the 3D anatomy of tge organ you are scanning but also the relationship of that organ inside the body AND the relationship with the ultrasound probe and the 2D slice it is creating.

So I commissioned this 3D printed heart. I have also invested in an amazing piece of new technology which I think will revolutionise this area of teaching in veterinary ultrasounography. More of this in a future so for now reveal in the beauty that is the heart...

31/01/2024

Sorry for the radio silence! I've been busy preparing CPD presentations on abdominal ultrasonography.

I've been on many ultrasound courses over the years and have found they are all taught in a similar way. A way that didn't help me understand why I was seeing things in reverse, why somethings were hard to see and why it didn't always make sense. So when I teach I want those learning to learn differently, to find the way that works for them not the prescribed way.

The teacher is the greatest learner, as I've discovered.

25/01/2024

As it is Burns' night, I have published a short communication 'Update on the ultrasonographical appearance of Dux Magnus Gentis Venteris Saginati, colloquially known as ‘haggis’.'

This short communication is a brief look at previous research into the ultrasonographical appearance of Dux Magnus Gentis Venteris Saginati, colloquially known as ‘haggis’, with a study using updated techniques and equipment to scan these elusive beasties. Ultrasonography of haggii is still as limited as the description in the original paper, over 20 years ago. However, this new study did manage to achieve a greater depth of pe*******on and is the first to describe the internal, shallow structure of the haggis, with comparison between three subspecies.

You can find this short communication published on my website https://www.vetartis.co.uk/newsletters/