Groundbreaking veterinarian technology now available at Raleigh animal hospital

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- If you consider your pet a member of the family, you want the best, most advanced health care for them.

Now, a Raleigh animal hospital has groundbreaking technology that assists in the screening and care of animals.

It's called Vimago.

It can show you in mere seconds what's going on inside your pet.

Dr. Page Wages of Care First Animal Hospital in Raleigh talked to ABC11 about the technology.

"It's groundbreaking technology. There are not many of these machines in the world yet," Wages said. "It's a high definition, volumetric imaging system, so it does a 3D image like a CT scan but with better detail. A CT will miss areas. This doesn't. It's better technology."

To show us how it works, Wages prepped a King Charles cavalier spaniel who needed a dental cleaning.

Before administering anesthesia, something unexpected happened.

Wages found a giant mass in the dog's throat. The scan showed Wages the dog's teeth as well as the mass.

It takes just 30 seconds to scan and another 30 seconds to see the images.

"I can take an X-ray in motion. I can watch a dog breathe," Wages explained. "So, like a coughing dog, I can watch and see is it the trachea or is it the heart? Is it a swallow problem? We can see exactly what we need to do. We've found things in dogs' sinuses. We've found things in their ears you couldn't physically see otherwise."

Wages was clear to point out that the hospital is still doing X-rays and ultra sounds. Vimago doesn't replace those procedures, it adds to it.

"We can take a pet that's sick and figure out what's going on with him and take him straight into surgery within the same day and get everything we need to know pretty quickly," she said.

The good news--Vimago produces less radiation so it's less harmful to the animal.

As for the King Charles cavalier spaniel, the scan showed that her teeth were in good shape. Wages was also able to remove the mass in the her throat.

The dog's owner said she was back to normal the following day.

If you want access to this technology, it's available to all!

Wages says they will scan your pet and send the analysis to your personal veterinarian for treatment. It's also covered by pet insurance.