Sonography of the normal feline gastrointestinal tract

The normal sonographic appearance of the stomach in various degrees of dist ension, the duodenum, the small intestine, and the large intestine was dete rmined in awake and sedated cats. The mean stomach rugal fold thickness was 4.38 mm, and the interrugal thickness was 2.03 mm, No significant differen ce in stomach wall thickness was seen when the stomach was empty, half full , or full. The duodenal wall thickness was significantly greater than other parts of the small intestine, and this difference was accentuated by sedat ion (awake mean 2.4 mm; sedated mean 2.71 mm), The mean small intestinal wa ll thickness was 2.1 mm, and the mean colonic wall thickness was 1.67 mm, T he fire characteristic sonographic layers similar to that seen in the gastr ointestinal tract of other species were routinely identified at all regions of the feline gastrointestinal tract.