Facilities at South Paws
Southpaws is one of Australia’s premier veterinary surgery, cancer care and imaging facilities. Purpose built, Southpaws is designed to optimise surgical and cancer care for patients. Southpaws is professional yet very comforting to pet owners and patients.
South Paws boasts the only radiation therapy unit for animals in Victoria and was the first deep-therapy radiation unit for animals in Australia. The fastest CT scanner in Australia dedicated for use in animals has been installed to increase image quality while shortening anaesthetic time. This machine would be at home in any world-class human hospital facility. Southpaws is centrally located in Melbourne and is very close to shopping and dining for pet owner convenience.
Computed Tomography (CT)
The Toshiba Aquilion 16 slice helical CT scanner at Southpaws is Australia's fastest and newest CT scanning facility for companion animals. The CT scanner allows for advanced imaging of all body structures using either axial or helical imaging technologies.
The scanner is housed in a fully lead-lined room, with patients and monitors being watched in an adjoining room via closed circuit video feeds. The scanner is used for imaging of spinal lesions, tumours in all parts of the body, brain scans and bone scans, as well as a large range of less common presentations and conditions.
Scan times are the fastest in Australia, with the actual scan taking only 3-5 seconds in many instances. All pets are placed under a fully monitored general anaesthetic during the scan. The scanner is available for your pet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in emergency presentations, or by appointment in other cases.
Radiotherapy Suite
The radiation therapy facility at is the only radiation therapy unit for animals in Victoria and was the first deep-therapy radiation unit for animals in Australia. The radiation suite contains a Therapax 300kV deep radiation therapy machine. Already commonplace in human medicine, this is one of only two machines available Australia wide. Patients have travelled from around Australia to be treated with this radiation therapy facility with generally excellent results.
The radiation suite is lined with over two tons of lead and is operated remotely by fully licensed veterinarians. The radiation therapy facility is headed by Dr Charles Kuntz, who has had extensive experience with radiation oncology in his practice in the United States. All treatments take place under Charles' direction.
All patients are placed under a light general anaesthesia to ensure they remain still during treatment. The facility is monitored with closed circuit video feeds and portable patient monitors, which allows for the same level of patient monitoring as is received by all patients undergoing anaesthesia.
The radiation suite also serves as a full intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) theatre, where pets can receive radiation therapy during surgery. This facility allows large doses of radiation to be administered direct to the tumour site during surgery. Surgical staff exit the theatre during administration of radiation.
Computed Radiography
Southpaws has invested in a computed radiography system to improve the quality of our radiographs, reduce the need for retakes and thus minimise your pets exposure to radiation.
The Centre has a human quality Visitor Mobile X-ray Unit and a Kodak Point-of-Care CR 140 digital x-ray system, which enables us to capture high-quality x-ray images of any body part. All imagine parameters are optimized, resulting in digital images that can be enhanced, enlarged, duplicated and are able to be transferred onto CDs or DVDs.
Our x-ray machine can be used to take radiographs on special orthopaedic beds on the floor to improve patient comfort and reduce the need for unnecessary sedation. This enables us to combine state-of-the-art technology with compassionate care to obtain the most accurate diagnosis.
Laboratory
We believe that state-of-the-art equipment is required to provide the best care possible to our patients. Southpaws has a full in-house laboratory system installed and supplied by Idexx, which includes the Lasercyte®, VetStat®, VetTest®, VetLab® station and StatSpin®. This fully integrated system is capable of performing haematology, biochemistry, electrolyte and blood gas evaluations rapidly on site, as well as the capability to test for infectious diseases.
All histopathology is performed by Australian Specialized Animal Pathology (ASAP), who provide both an outstanding and rapid service.
