Medicine
Diagnostics and Radiology
An in-house lab, digital radiography and ultrasound on Thompson Road, so most answers come back the same visit instead of a call two days later.
Chapter 01
An X-ray that comes up in the room you're already sitting in
The clinic runs a new digital X-ray system, and it is networked to touch-screen monitors in every one of the seven exam rooms off the courtyard. That sounds like a small thing until you are the one waiting on it: the image does not go to a machine down the hall and a phone call later, it comes up on the screen in the room you are already sitting in, with your pet still on the table.
Dr. Stephanie Ginestra, one of the clinic's veterinarians, names diagnostic imaging as one of her special interests, and it shows in how the equipment is used here. A radiograph is read where the conversation is happening, not somewhere else.
A cat looking out of its carrier on the exam table at Rose-Rich Veterinary Clinic.
What ultrasound is actually looking at
Ultrasound goes further than an X-ray can. It looks at the heart's structure and function, the kidneys and liver for size and texture, the gallbladder alongside the liver, a pregnancy in progress, and cysts, tumors or abscesses that need to be located and sized before anyone decides what happens next.
Between the two, digital radiography and ultrasound cover both a skeleton-and-organ silhouette and a real-time look inside the organs themselves, and both are done on site at the Thompson Road building.
Chapter 03
The in-house lab, and why it changes the same visit
Four tests run in-house rather than through an outside lab: a heartworm test, a fecal or stool test, a wellness baseline blood test, and a urinalysis. Sending any of those out means a wait of a day or more before anyone knows what they show.
Running them here means a heartworm result, a parasite finding, or a change in a blood or urine value can be acted on before you leave the building, on the same visit the sample was taken, instead of a follow-up call once the results eventually come back.
Rose-Rich, All of our veterinarians are members of the AVMA. Call (281) 342-3727.
In-house lab
Four tests, run on site
Heartworm test
Checks for a heartworm infection a monthly preventative could have stopped.
Fecal / stool test
Checks for internal parasites that a hands-on exam cannot see.
Wellness baseline blood test
A reference point for kidney, liver and other organ values.
Urinalysis
Looks for what a blood panel alone can miss, especially in the kidneys.
Ultrasound
Organ by organ
Heart
Structure and function beyond what a stethoscope can tell you.
Kidneys
Size, shape and any change in the tissue itself.
Liver
Size and texture, and any mass that bloodwork alone would miss.
Gallbladder
Checked alongside the liver for the same visit.
Pregnancy
Confirms and monitors a pregnancy in the exam room.
Cysts, tumors or abscesses
Located and sized before deciding next steps.
Diagnostic imaging pairs naturally with a wellness exam or a sick exam, and often informs a plan for dental and surgery.
Have a question a picture can answer?
Call the Thompson Road clinic to ask whether an X-ray or ultrasound makes sense for what you're seeing at home, or request an appointment.