For Referring Veterinarians

  Echocardiography is the art of using ultrasound to view the structure and function of the heart in real time. Ultrasound is a highly informative, non-invasive, and safe diagnostic test in both human and veterinary medicine. This technique uses high frequency sound waves emitted from a hand-held probe to produce an ultrasound beam. This ultrasound beam is reflected from the tissues in the chest and heart and returns to the ultrasound probe to construct…

  The normal pacemaker of the heart lies in the heart’s right upper chamber. This structure, known as the sinus node, normally generates the heart’s electrical impulse. This impulse is then carried through the upper chambers and reaches a structure known as the AV node. Normally, the AV node is the only electrical connection between the upper and lower chambers of the heart, so it conducts the impulse down to the pumping chambers, which then…

  The heart is one of the hardest-working organs in the body. It contracts thousands of times a day to move blood and deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. An adult dog’s heart beats between 60 and 140 times per minute. For a cat, it is typically between 140-180 beats per minute. When listening to a normal heartbeat, there are two sounds – a lub and…