What is endoscopy?
Endoscopy is a procedure where the inside of your pet’s body can be examined without the need for a traditional invasive surgical procedure. An endoscope (scope) is a long, thin, flexible tube with a camera and a light source at one end, and a large television screen at the other. High quality, colour images of your pet’s body are then relayed to the screen where the vets can assess them in real time. Images can also be saved for the purposes of referral for a second opinion, if required.
What happens during a scope?
Your pet would be brought into us first thing ready for anaesthesia; not having any food from 8pm the night before. Your pet will then be put under general anaesthesia to enable us to maneuver the endoscope freely and safely without causing unnecessary distress or discomfort. Our endoscope can be passed into the mouth then either into your pet’s oesophagus, stomach and intestines or even down their trachea and into their lungs to asses for any disease processes or objects that should be there (foreign bodies). Colonoscopy is often performed to investigate disorders of the lower bowel such as diarrhoea.
What can the scope do?
Endoscopy can be used to investigate various illness or for emergency treatment. We have an array of equipment we can use through the endoscope, allowing us to take multiple biopsies without the need for a scalpel blade and open surgery, making the procedure much less invasive for your pet. We can also remove foreign bodies from both the stomach and the lungs, very useful for pets who are always getting into things they shouldn’t!
All of our vets and nurses are trained in using the endoscope so it can be used day or night, and there is no need for external referral.