Originally we had the standard x-ray film and processor set up that is typical of most veterinary clinics and even human hospitals.  We were processing the films by hand and so did not shoot very many x-rays because the quality was not very good and it took forever to process the films.  We then bought an automatic processor but that ended up costing more but the films were better quality and only took a few minutes to develop.  The problem was dealing with chemicals and silver recovery.  The processor was constantly needing service and then I saw a computerized processor at a continuing education meeting and was very interested.  I travelled to Boise Idaho and saw the light, so to speak,  I bought the processor that we have and will never go back to radiographic film again.

Above you see an example of a barium series with the barium filling the stomach and intestines.  To the right, you can see a large number of bladder stones that were removed from the bladder of this dog the next day.  Below is a radiograph of a cat with severe arthritic changes in her back.  Compare the picture of the spine on this film with the picture to the right.

We send radiographs that we need second opinions to DarkHorse, a company that has board certified radiologists who read films or pictures of films and send reports back to us the next day.  There is a fee associated with this service but it is quick and done by a specialist and we charge about what they charge us, just to make sure that it is correct!