Working with a member of the veterinary species can be challenging for a variety of reasons. Practitioners must contend with ‘incomplete information’ on conditions that may affect our animal companions, particularly when compared to humans. As an example, we have a good understanding of the symptoms and treatments that arise in certain human conditions, yet the same cannot be said when the analogous condition occurs in our canine friends - this is particularly frustrating from a research point of view. As a result, veterinary researchers will often have a limited scope of research, at least until we can improve our current knowledge. In addition, working with the veterinary species means that you have to contend with the fact that there exist a variety of breeds within each animal. Taking the dog as an example here, it is easy to appreciate the difficulty a practitioner might have in diagnosing a particular condition in two very different breeds – after all, a Chihuahua is very different from a Doberman!

A previous paper described the ability to use ultrasonography as a way to reliably measure the size of the kidney in dogs of different breeds (Barrera R. et al, 2009 6, pp 576-583). Following on, a further research paper in September 2012 by Barella G. et al (15(3), pp 186-191) in the Journal of Ultrasound, described a straightforward way for practitioners to calculate kidney size in dogs using ultrasound imaging (Please note that the technique described in this paper stemmed from results published in a previous paper in 1971 by Finco et al (159(8), pp 995-1002)).

The study carried out by Barella G. et al included a number of dogs of mixed gender (castrated, spayed, neutered and intact), weight and breed (10 different breeds and 10 mixed breed dogs were assessed), revealing that ultrasound is a technique that allows the ‘breed barrier’ to be bypassed. Moreover, this study also revealed that there was no difference between left and right kidney dimensions. Briefly, several kidney measurements were taken and their association with the measurements of the fifth and sixth lumbar vertebrae assessed, giving a specific value. It should be noted that both these measurements were carried out using veterinary ultrasound imaging. This value is then used alongside statistical techniques, allowing kidney size to be calculated in healthy dogs. Furthermore, this paper revealed that ultrasound imaging can be a useful tool in allowing the practitioner to notice changes in kidney size.

The use of veterinary ultrasound in these circumstances allow the problem of breed differences to be circumvented. The ability to use a universal tool on a wide variety of animals to retrieve directly comparable results is clearly advantageous, especially when you consider how dissimilar some of the canine breeds can be. Current research in ultrasonography is likely to reveal further uses for this tool that will help aid in the examination and treatment of our veterinary friends.