Veterinary equipment, explained

A practice's equipment list is one of the few things on a clinic website that tells you what they can actually do in the building. These guides explain what each machine is for, what it typically costs, and when having it on site changes what happens to your pet.

Every guide below lives in our procedure library. This page groups the ones practices list as equipment.

Imaging

Machines that look inside your pet without surgery. Which one a vet reaches for depends on what they need to see.

X-Rays (Radiography) 614 practices Pet x-rays cost about $150-$600. Why your vet needs more than one view, when sedation is necessary, and the conditions a normal x-ray cannot rule out. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: X-rays, Digital radiography, Digital Radiology, Digital X-rays

Ultrasound 510 practices A pet ultrasound costs about $300-$900. Why it is not a duplicate of an x-ray, why your pet gets shaved, and why who performs the scan matters more than the machine. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Ultrasounds, Pet Ultrasound, Ultrasonography, Point-of-care ultrasounds

CT Scan 156 practices A pet CT scan costs about $900-$2,500. What it shows, how it differs from an MRI, why anesthesia is usually required, and when to ask for one instead. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: CT, CT scans, Computed Tomography (CT), CT scanner

Browse by state: California · Texas · New York · Colorado · Washington · Arizona · 8 more

Dental X-Rays 106 practices Pet dental X-rays cost about $100-$400. Why most of a tooth is invisible without them, what vets find in mouths that looked normal, and why anesthesia is required. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Digital dental x-rays, Dental Radiography, Dental Radiographs, Digital dental radiographs

MRI for Dogs & Cats 83 practices Understand what a pet MRI involves, when it's recommended, typical costs ($2000-$3500), and recovery for your dog or cat. Learn how to find a specialist. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: MRI, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), 3T MRI, Magnetic resonance imaging

Browse by state: California · Texas · Minnesota · New Jersey · New York · Washington · 2 more

Endoscopy 65 practices Veterinary endoscopy costs about $800-$2,500. When a swallowed object can be retrieved without surgery, and why a normal scope sometimes still ends in surgical biopsy. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Endoscope, Bronchoscopy, video endoscopy, Gastroscopy

Echocardiogram (Heart Ultrasound) 30 practices A veterinary echocardiogram costs about $400-$900. Why a murmur is not a diagnosis, how an echo differs from an ECG, and why timing medication depends on it. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Echocardiogram, Echocardiograms, Echocardiography, Cardiac ultrasound

Arthroscopy 3 practices Arthroscopy in dogs costs about $2,000-$4,500. Why a camera inside the joint finds what CT and MRI miss, what it can fix, and what it honestly cannot. Read the guide →
Video Otoscopy & Deep Ear Cleaning 3 practices A deep ear flush under video otoscopy costs about $300-$1,200. Why anesthesia is needed, what the eardrum check changes, and the real reason ear infections recur. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Video-otoscopy, Video Otoscopy

Monitoring & measurement

Instruments that measure something about your pet in the moment — under anaesthesia, or during a workup.

Electrocardiography (ECG) 74 practices A pet ECG costs about $75-$500. What an ECG shows that an echocardiogram does not, when a Holter monitor is needed, and why a normal trace is not always reassuring. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Electrocardiogram (ECG), EKG, ECG, Continuous Electrocardiogram (EKG)

Anesthesia Monitoring 36 practices What monitoring your pet should have under anesthesia — pulse oximetry, capnography, blood pressure — and the two questions that separate practices. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Pulse oximetry, Capnography, Advanced monitoring equipment, anesthetic monitoring equipment

Tonometry (Eye Pressure Test) 17 practices Tonometry measures eye pressure in about ten seconds and detects glaucoma, which can blind a pet within a day. What it is, what it costs, and when to go now. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Tonometry, Tono-pen, TonoPen, TonoVet

Blood Pressure Monitoring 16 practices A pet blood pressure check costs about $40-$150. Why hypertension blinds cats, what causes it, and why one high reading is not a diagnosis. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Blood pressure monitors, Doppler blood pressure, oscillometric blood pressure, Blood pressure measurement

Electromyography (EMG) 9 practices Electromyography for pets costs about $600-$2,000. Why an MRI can be clean while the nerves are failing, what EMG diagnoses, and what the full workup involves. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Electrodiagnostics, Electromyography, EMG

Critical care & life support

What a hospital needs on site when a pet is too unwell to go home.

Veterinary ICU 47 practices A veterinary ICU means continuous monitoring by staff physically present overnight. What it includes, what it costs, and how it differs from "open 24 hours". Read the guide →

Practices also call it: intensive care unit, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Incubators, ICU

Oxygen Therapy 37 practices Oxygen therapy for pets costs about $200-$1,200 per day. How to recognise respiratory distress, how to count breathing rate at home, and why home oxygen is a bad idea. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: oxygen cages, Thermally regulated oxygen cages, Oxygen Chamber, hi-flow nasal oxygen

Blood Transfusion 12 practices A pet blood transfusion costs about $400-$1,500. Why blood typing matters more in cats, where veterinary blood comes from, and what a transfusion can and cannot do. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Blood transfusion equipment, Blood Bank, Blood products, Blood transfusion equipment and blood products

Hemodialysis & Renal Replacement Therapy 4 practices Hemodialysis costs about $3,000-$12,000. It is transformative for acute kidney injury from toxins — and a bridge that leads nowhere in end-stage chronic disease. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Prismaflex for renal replacement therapy, renal replacement therapy

Laboratory

Whether bloodwork is run in the building or sent away is the difference between an answer today and an answer next week.

In-House Laboratory 192 practices An in-house laboratory means blood results in 15-30 minutes instead of 1-3 days. What it tests, what it can't, and when that difference changes treatment. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: In-House Lab, on-site laboratory, Laboratory, Labs

Treatment equipment

Machines that deliver a treatment rather than produce a diagnosis.

Therapeutic Laser Therapy 21 practices Therapeutic laser sessions cost about $25-$100 each and are widely offered for pain and healing. The veterinary evidence is real but mixed - here is what it does and does not support. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Laser therapy, Therapeutic laser, Cold laser therapy, Class IV Laser Therapy

Hydrotherapy 14 practices Canine hydrotherapy costs about $40-$100 a session. Why an underwater treadmill is not a swimming pool, when to start after surgery, and how many sessions are typical. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: Underwater Treadmill, therapeutic ultrasound

Radiation Therapy 13 practices Pet radiation therapy costs about $3,000-$12,000. The anesthesia count nobody mentions, palliative versus curative intent, and how side effects really compare. Read the guide →

Practices also call it: linear accelerator, 3D radiation therapy technology

Three questions worth asking on the phone

  1. “Do you have that on site, or do you refer out for it?” A practice that refers isn't worse — but it changes the timeline, and usually the cost.
  2. “Could it be done today?” Owning a machine and having someone available to run it are different things, particularly for ultrasound and CT.
  3. “Who interprets the images?” For MRI and CT this is often a board-certified radiologist reading remotely. That is normal, and worth knowing.

Practice counts reflect what each clinic publishes on its own website, as recorded in our directory in August 2026, across 860 practices. Equipment changes, and a listing is not a guarantee — call ahead before you travel.