Cloverleaf Animal Clinic

Midsouth Veterinary Ultrasound

Mobile ultrasonography done at clinics around the Midsouth!  Dr. Jeff Pearce has specialized equipment to come to your veterinarian's clinic. 

Appointments are scheduled by the referring veterinary clinic. They can  901-682-5681 for instructions on how to set up appointments. 

Dr. Pearce will arrive at your clinic with the appropriate equipment and tools needed.

VETERINARIAN INFO

• Dr. James J. Pearce graduated from Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1987. 
• He has a special interest in diagnostic ultrasound imaging. He is especially interested in echocardiography and the evaluation of heart disease and murmurs.
• Dr. Pearce is a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners specializing in Canine and Feline Practice.

• ABVP certifies veterinary practitioners with exceptional knowledge, skill, and competency in the care of the total patient.
• ABVP Diplomates are certified in clinical practice for the species in which certification is granted.
• Clinical practice, as it pertains to veterinarians, is the art and science of applying medical knowledge to animals for their care and the alleviation and prevention of their diseases.
• Most veterinarians performing broad-based clinical practice are not board certified. The ABVP board certified veterinarian has demonstrated they are capable of providing a level of clinical practice that is clearly superior to the norm of the profession.

ABOUT ULTRASOUNDOGRAPHY

• Unlike radiography (x-ray imaging), no radiation is used in an ultrasound. An ultrasound uses sound waves.
• The ultrasound waves move out from the wand and either become absorbed into organs, pass through them, or are reflected (echo) back.
• Depending on how many sound waves are absorbed or reflected, an image of the internal organs is formed that can be seen on a monitor.
• Ultrasound is painless and does not require anesthesia or even sedation in most cases. 
• For an ultrasound evaluation to be done, the pet needs to have the hair shaved from the area to be evaluated, as hair will interfere with the images.
• This test is typically done after blood tests, x-rays, or a physical examination indicates a possible problem. It is useful for evaluating things like abdominal organs, eyes, and the reproductive system.
• As with people, it can be used during pregnancies. There is a specific ultrasound called an echocardiogram that is used to visualize the heart and blood vessels as well as the valves of the heart.
• Ultrasound can see some things that can't be visualized on radiographs. For example, if the abdomen is filled with fluid, the organs can't be distinguished on traditional x-rays because fluid and tissue have the same density.
• However, they appear quite different from each other on an ultrasound image, so we can see through the fluid. It is also useful, for the same reason, for seeing inside an organ such as the heart or liver.
• Ultrasound is not good at seeing through air or bone, so it does not replace radiography but rather is complementary to the information we can get from radiographs.
• It is common to do both x-rays and ultrasound in order to get a complete picture of what is going on with a patient.

Text adapted from an article by John Daugherty, DVM

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