Pet X-Rays & Veterinary
Radiology in San Jose, CA

Chest X-rays are one of the most commonly performed diagnostic images in veterinary medicine. A single view can reveal fluid around the lungs, masses within the chest cavity, an enlarged heart, or changes in the airways that explain why your pet is coughing or breathing hard.

We typically take two views — a side view and a front-to-back view — to get a complete picture of the lungs and heart from different angles. This is especially useful for older dogs and cats, where early heart disease or lung conditions may not yet show obvious symptoms.

For pets with a history of heart murmurs, sudden coughing, or exercise intolerance, chest X-rays are often the first step in understanding what's happening below the surface. The images are taken with your pet standing or lying down — no anesthesia is needed in most cases — and results are available immediately for discussion.

Abdominal X-rays give us a wide-angle look at the organs in your pet's belly. The liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, and intestines are all visible on a well-positioned radiograph, making this a valuable tool for pets experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or unexplained weight loss.

We can identify abnormalities such as organ enlargement, fluid accumulation, masses, and changes in the size or shape of organs that may indicate infection, inflammation, or more serious conditions. Abdominal X-rays are also an important first step when we suspect bladder or kidney stones.

In many cases, abdominal X-rays can be performed the same day without sedation. If your pet is in distress or unable to keep still, light sedation may be recommended to ensure we get clear, diagnostic images without causing unnecessary stress.

When a dog is limping after a fall, or an older cat stops jumping because their joints hurt, orthopedic X-rays show us what's happening in the bones and joints. We can identify fractures, dislocations, bone tumors, joint swelling, and the early cartilage loss associated with arthritis.

Orthopedic radiographs often require multiple views of the affected limb, sometimes including the joint above and below the area of pain. This helps us determine whether the problem is in the bone, the joint, or the soft tissues around them — and it guides the treatment plan, whether that means rest, medication, or surgery.

For active dogs that have had a sudden injury, these images are critical for deciding how quickly to act. For senior pets with gradual mobility loss, they help us track progression and adjust treatment to keep your pet comfortable and moving well.

Bladder stones and kidney stones are common in both dogs and cats, and they often cause painful urination, blood in the urine, straining, and repeated urinary tract infections. Many types of stones show up clearly on X-rays, making radiography one of the fastest ways to confirm their presence.

Urinary tract X-rays can also reveal changes in kidney size or shape, blockages along the urethra, and masses near the bladder. When stones are identified, we can discuss whether dietary management, medical dissolution, or surgical removal is the best approach for your pet.

If your pet has been straining to urinate, having accidents outside the litter box, or showing signs of blood in their urine, an X-ray of the urinary tract is often the most direct next step. We can perform this imaging quickly and usually discuss results with you the same day.

Dogs eat socks. Cats chew on string. It happens more often than you'd think. When a pet swallows something they shouldn't, the object can cause choking, vomiting, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, or a dangerous intestinal blockage.

X-rays can locate many foreign objects directly — especially dense items like bones, coins, and metal. For softer objects that don't show up as clearly, we look for secondary signs such as gas patterns in the intestines, abnormal loops of bowel, or fluid levels that suggest a blockage is forming.

If your dog or cat has eaten something unusual and is showing symptoms like persistent vomiting, refusal to eat, lethargy, or abdominal pain, X-rays are often the first diagnostic step. Early detection can mean the difference between monitoring at home and needing surgical intervention — and sometimes an endoscopic retrieval instead of open surgery. Call us right away at (408) 351-0008 if you suspect your pet has swallowed a foreign object.

Your veterinarian may recommend X-rays when your pet shows signs that something internal needs evaluating. Common reasons include persistent coughing, labored breathing, unexplained limping or reluctance to walk, abdominal pain or distension, vomiting that won't resolve, blood in the urine, suspected fractures after a fall or accident, and unexplained weight loss or loss of appetite.

The process is straightforward. Your pet is gently positioned on the X-ray table — usually standing or lying down — and the images are captured in seconds. Most X-rays require no sedation and no special preparation, though abdominal studies may benefit from a brief fasting period beforehand to reduce gas in the stomach and intestines.

Once the images are taken, we review them immediately on screen and walk you through what we find. Because the images are digital, we can adjust brightness and contrast, zoom in on areas of interest, and share the images with specialists if referral care becomes necessary.

X-rays and ultrasound both help us see inside your pet, but they use different technology and show different things. X-rays excel at imaging dense structures — bones, teeth, and calcified objects like some bladder stones. They also provide a broad overview of the chest and abdomen, showing organ size and shape, gas patterns, and fluid accumulation.

Ultrasound uses sound waves rather than radiation, making it ideal for evaluating soft tissues in detail — the internal architecture of the liver, kidneys, spleen, and bladder, the walls of the intestines, and fluid pockets that X-rays can only suggest. It's also the preferred tool for evaluating pregnancies and guiding biopsies.

In many cases, X-rays and ultrasound complement each other. An X-ray might identify an abnormality in the abdomen, and an ultrasound then evaluates that area in more detail. Your veterinarian will recommend the imaging study — or combination of studies — most likely to give you clear answers based on your pet's specific symptoms and exam findings.