A WELLINGTON animal hospital says it has future-proofed its imaging capabilities for the next decade with a £1.2m

investment in a class-leading MRI scanner.

Cave Veterinary Specialists, in West Buckland, near Wellington, has purchased the state-of-the-art scanner to

allow it to better diagnose and treat pets.

The scanner offers cutting-edge imaging technology to allow 50 per cent faster scans at a far higher resolution

than Cave’s previous MRI, meaning shorter general anaesthetics for patients, and will also allow a more detailed

and accurate diagnosis of complex neurological conditions.

The setup also allows Cave to expand into emerging fields such as cardiac MRI and advanced musculoskeletal

imaging.

Tom Cardy, head of neurology at Cave Veterinary Specialists, said the investment future-proofs Cave’s MRI scanning

capability for the next 10 years and means it will continue to lead the referral field in the South West and beyond.

He said: “It’s not often in your career you get to work with a truly class-leading piece of equipment such as this.

“Faster and more detailed MRI scans will reduce the general anaesthetic times for our patients and allow us

to diagnose conditions that simply would not have been detectable on lower resolution machines.

“The new scanner will greatly improve the patient and client experience we provide.

This investment significantly increases the capability of our neurology service and the whole team are excited to get

to grips with this amazing piece of kit.”