Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan takes detailed pictures of the inside of the body. It can identify problems in soft tissues, such as the brain, that cannot be examined by X-rays or ultrasound.

• When your cat has an MRI, it must be under anaesthesia. This is not because the procedure is painful but because it requires lying very still on a table that slides through a tunnel in the middle of the MRI scanner, which is also noisy.
• The scanner uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate signals from the body. These are picked up by a radio antenna and processed by a computer to create detailed pictures.
• The benefits of an MRI are that it produces very detailed pictures, does not use X-ray radiation and is painless.
• The machine performs multiple scans to give different information about the tissues. Once completed, our feline veterinarians will contact you to discuss the results and any further testing (e.g., spinal fluid analysis) that might be required.
• All our scans are also sent to diagnostic imaging specialists for a detailed report, which arrives within 12-72 hours.
• Depending on how unwell your cat is, they can potentially go home 1-2 hours after the scans are completed and they have recovered from their anaesthesia.

Our feline team may recommend an MRI to examine the:

• brain and spinal cord
• bones and joints

An MRI is a very safe procedure; however, it must be performed under anaesthesia, and some patients, particularly those with severe neurological signs, can be very challenging to keep stable under anaesthesia. We have highly skilled nurses and specialist anaesthetists available to ensure the procedure is as safe as possible.

An MRI scan can last as long as 2 hours or more.

Our feline team will give you their report as soon as the scan is finished. We also send our MRIs to a specialist diagnostic imaging team, and these detailed reports take 12-72 hours.