HT Vista saved our Dog’s life
For those of you who may not know, our gorgeous 9-year-old Pug, Puggy Smalls developed what seemed to be a fatty lump on his chest. With no other symptoms, we assumed it was nothing serious, but our vet recommended a HT Vista scan, as it’s better to be safe than sorry, and in our eyes to “wait and see” is not good enough for our dogs or my anxiety!
We have a previous experience with a HT vista scan with our other pooch, Pops, a senior dachshund rescue. It’s common for older dogs to develop lumps and bumps, but we decided to book in a HT vista scan to give us peace of mind, before needing to aspirate or biopsy. Luckily, Pops scored an 8 on the HT Vista scale which meant there was a high probability her bump was benign, so no further testing was necessary. Following on from this success and understanding what this machine is capable of, we knew it was the best initial course of action for Puggy’s journey.
The HT Vista uses heat diffusion imaging technology (HDI) to determine if a mass is most likely benign or requires further investigation. The device heats the lump by 6 degrees and then it is left to cool. The device then monitors the thermal activity and special features of the tissue. It’s entirely pain free, stress free and non-invasive. Puggy found it so relaxing he even fell asleep during the 40 second scan of his chest, which was done in a normal veterinary treatment room with us owners present.
The results came back almost instantly, so we were able to see how Puggy’s mass was graded according to HT Vista scale and discuss the next steps with our veterinary team.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you want to look at it) Puggy’s lump was graded as a number 1 on the HT vista scale, which meant further testing was required. For us it was important to understand more before we went ahead with any biopsies because we wouldn’t want Puggy to go through any invasive procedures unless necessary. HT Vista provided us with the clarity and direction we needed to know we were doing right by Puggy.
In our instance, we are so happy we discovered HT vista, as it gave us insight to test Puggy’s mass which ultimately was a Mast Cell Tumour and early detection meant a much better prognosis for our boy.
We were able to act swiftly and appropriately and Puggy underwent a very successful procedure to remove the tumour, and 6 weeks since his initial HT vista scan, he is cancer free, carefree and living his best life.
Lumps and bumps are so common in dogs, especially as they get older, so its vital you investigate as early as possible. They are often nothing major to worry about, but catching cancer early gives us owners the freedom and insight to arrange treatment to remove and/or stop cancer spreading.
We will be forever thankful to HT Vista and our incredible team of vets for everything they have done for us, and I cannot recommend them enough.
Check out their website now to find out more: www.ht-vet.com
