ISRAEL: CAT-Scan technicians at Israeli hospital finally get their chance to scan a real, live cat

The advanced medical technology of CAT-Scanning lived up to its name at a hospital in Israel where technicians fired up their machines to study the brain of a real cat on Sunday (November 20). Gov, a heavily-sedated, two-and-a-half-year old lioness from Haifa Zoo, underwent the scan in an unusual visit to the city's Rambam Hospital as part of a routine check-up. CAT Scans - or Computed Axial Tomography - are a way of building a three-dimensional image using two-dimensional x-rays and are used to study internal organs without invasive surgery. The CAT scanner in the Haifa hospital had to be specially adjusted to map a lion - rather than a human - skull. The unusual visit was also scheduled at night to avoid giving recovering patients a fright on seeing the 180-kilogram lioness being wheeled into the operating theatre. One of the things that Gov's keepers were checking up on was the possible effect on her skull of a lack of Vitamin A - something common in lions born in captivity. Without the vitamin, lions' bones can develop in an unhealthy way and, in the case of the skull, that can lead to pressure on sensitive parts of the cat's brain. A lion called Samson from the Rishon Letzion Zoo in southern Israel went through the same brain scan a few months ago, after behaving strangely, according to zoo veterinarians. His scan showed that some serious damage had been caused to his brain due to the deformation of his upper spinal column which was putting pressure his brainstem. Since Samson is Gov's uncle, zookeepers thought it was even more urgent for Gov to undergo her own CAT-Scan. Much to the relief of her keepers, Gov's brain scan showed a perfectly structured skull, and she was safely returned home.

ITN Source | November 25, 2005

Tags:. .possible. .human. .ago. .went. .perfectly