Preventative Health Care/Wellness Exams

Our focus is to help prevent disease and illness in your family’s pet.  Our goal is to help you minimize the need to treat and cure preventable diseases.   Preventative medicine increases your pet’s chances of having a long and healthy life.  We accomplish this through designing an individualized wellness program for your pet.  The basis of this program is a complete  medical assessment that is performed on your pet when he/she is here for a wellness examination.   All adult pets should be examined at least once a year. Kittens and puppies require examination monthly during the first 4 months of life.  Senior pets (> 7 years of age) should be examined every six months.  This allows us to detect signs of disease in your senior pet much sooner.  During your pet’s experience here, you will meet with a Registered Veterinary Technician to review your pet’s health history.  You and your pet will also meet with a Veterinarian who will perform a complete physical examination of your pet (this includes assessment of body condition, examination of eyes, ears, skin, hair coat, oral cavity, lymph nodes, abdomen, joints and listening to heart and lungs).   After the assessment is complete, our Veterinary Team will design a Wellness Program recommended for your individual pet’s health.  These recommendations will  include ways to prevent disease and illness including; Vaccines and Parasite Prevention that are based on your pet’s environment and life style, Diet Recommendations, and Dental Care too

Dentistry

From puppy and kitten age through to our senior aged pets, proper dental care is an important part of maintaining a healthy pet.  As a young animal, it is important to assess the alignment of the teeth and to make sure that the immature teeth fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth in an appropriate time and in an appropriate location.  Our staff can recommend products and techniques to help maintain healthy teeth and gums through diet, tooth brushing and plaque reducing products.

As a part of your pet’s annual wellness exam we will assess the oral health of your pet.  Based on the findings of that exam we can make personalized recommendations for your pet to repair or maintain their oral health.

If a dental procedure is recommended for your pet based on the assessment of one of our veterinarians, it will be booked as an outpatient procedure for an upcoming day or referred to one of our local specialists.  As our pets are not as willing to lay back in a chair and say “ah”, all dental work is done under general anesthesia for both their safety and ours.  As well, a thorough assessment of problems below the gums cannot be done while the pet is awake.  We take precautions to ensure that your pet’s anesthetic procedure is as safe as possible.

Keep in mind that pets will often hide their discomfort, so dental pain is not always made evident by your pet turning up their nose at food.  It may be more subtle, like a decrease in activity level or not wanting to be pet around the face and muzzle.  If you suspect any problems with your pet’s oral health, do not delay in booking an appointment with us as periodontal disease is progressive!

Vaccinations

Vaccinations for a kitten/cat

Vaccines have an important role in protecting your pet from infectious diseases.  The risk of not vaccinating can be significant, not only to your pet but also to you and your family.

There are many fatal diseases to kittens and cats.  Fortunately we have the ability to prevent several of these by vaccinating your pet.  In order to be effective, these vaccines must be given as a series of injections.  Ideally, they are given at about 6 – 8 weeks of age, 12, and 16 weeks of age, but this schedule may vary depending on several factors.

The routine vaccination schedule will protect your kitten or cat from five diseases; Feline Distemper, three respiratory organisms and rabies.  The first four vaccinations are included in a combination vaccine that is given at 6 – 8 weeks of age, 12 weeks of age and 16 weeks of age.  Rabies vaccine is given at 12 to 16 weeks of age.

Some kittens/cats require other vaccinations such as Leukemia vaccine.  Leukemia vaccine is appropriate for any cat but a necessity if your cat does or will go outside or if you have another cat that goes in and out.  This deadly disease is transmitted by contact with other cats, especially when fighting occurs.  A vaccine is also available for protection against feline infectious peritonitis (FIP).

Kitten Vaccinations:

Kitten Vaccinations	Feline Rhinotraceitis, Calici Panleukopenia Vaccine	Rabies Vaccine	Leukemia Vaccine	Feline Infectious Peritonitis
8 weeks of age	×		×	×
12 weeks of age	×		×	×
16 weeks of age	×	×	×	×

Vaccinations for a puppy/dog

Vaccines have an important role in protecting your pet from infectious diseases. The risk of not vaccinating can be significant, not only to your pet but also to you and your family.

There are many fatal diseases to puppies and dogs. Fortunately we have the ability to prevent several of these by vaccinating your pet. In order to be effective, these vaccines must be given as a series of injections. Ideally, they are given at about 6 – 8 weeks of age, 12, and 16 weeks of age, but this schedule may vary depending on several factors.

The routine vaccination schedule will protect your puppy from seven diseases; Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza Virus, Parvovirus and Rabies. These are included in one injection that is given at 6 – 8 weeks of age, 12 weeks of age and 16 weeks of age. Rabies vaccine is given at 12 to 16 weeks of age.

Some puppies/dogs require other vaccinations such as kennel cough vaccine if they will be spending time at the boarding kennel, dog park, groomers, or puppy training classes.

Lyme vaccination is given to dogs that are exposed to ticks because Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks.  Travel or border requirements

Lepto vaccination is given to dogs that are exposed to wild life or dogs that drink out of puddles outside.

Puppy Vaccinations:

Puppy Vaccinations	Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza Virus, Parvo Virus Vaccine	Rabies Vaccine	Kennel Cough Vaccine	Lyme Vaccine	Lepto Vaccine
8 weeks of age	×		×	×	×
12 weeks of age	×		×	×	×
16 weeks of age	×	×

Senior Pet Care

While many people have said that “age is not a disease”, being a senior animal does increase the likelihood of having a chronic disease.  The good news is that veterinary medicine has come a long way in managing and treating chronic diseases in animals so that your pet can live a long and comfortable life.

The most common problems that owners report seeing in their pets include: “slowing down” or getting stiff and sore, changes in appetite or water intake, lumps or bumps appearing on or under the skin and changes in behaviour.

Getting stiff and sore affects animals with 2 legs or four as they age.  Just as with humans, there are many options available to animals to help manage their discomfort.  Options include nutritional supplements, medications to decrease inflammation and pain, therapeutic laser and specially designed diets.   A consultation and examination with our veterinarians can help to discern which of these options are appropriate for your pet.  Don’t forget that it isn’t just dogs that develop arthritis and that there have been many developments to help manage arthritis in our feline friends as well.

Going along with arthritis, many owners report that they notice their animals “slowing down” with age.  While this can sometimes be related to arthritis, sometimes it is also indicative of something going on inside your pet.   In cases like this, after consulting with our veterinarian, they may recommend blood work to assess for diseases that may be going on inside your pet.  Depending on the severity of disease as well as the different diagnoses that the veterinarian is concerned about, the blood work may be run in clinic or sent out our outside lab.  For most blood work profiles, we can have results within 24 to 48 hours if not sooner.  The blood work profiles often assess the blood systems (red blood cells for oxygen carrying, white blood cells for immune function and platelets for clotting) and organ systems (liver, kidney, endocrine systems).  These blood work profiles can also be used to assess for causes of changes in appetite and water intake, common problems in older pets.

Another cause of changes in appetite in older pets is poor dental health.  While we encourage pet owners to brush their pet’s teeth at least once a week (once a day is better!), some pets are just genetically destined to develop poor oral health as they age.  Pets are very good at hiding discomfort so they will continue to try and eat and act normally despite tremendous oral pain due to infected and damaged teeth.  During a consult with our veterinarians, they can assess your pet’s oral health and make recommendations to help keep their teeth pearly white, or to address ongoing dental health problems.

Many animals also develop “lumps and bumps” under or on their skin.  These growths should be assess by a veterinarian as early detection and assessment can help prevent serious consequences down the road when they are left untreated.

Older animals can also develop changes in their behaviour as they age.  Some times they are related to an ongoing disease process like arthritis making them sore or related to cognitive dysfunction (“dementia”).  Speak to us about changes in your senior animal so that we can help to manage behaviour and underlying causes so that your pet can remain a beloved member of the family.

Pet Nutrition

Proper nutrition is an important key to keeping your pet healthy, and with the number of different pet foods on the market it can be very overwhelming.  Don’t be fooled by the many foods with pretty labels, fancy wording and an ingredient list that we would like to eat.  Some of these foods are not properly balanced and have never been fed to animals before marketing, making your pet the Guinea pig.  It is best to look for foods that have the AAFCO statement or phrases such as “feeding trials” or “feeding tests” on the bag.  Animal feeding trials using the AAFCO procedures is a great way to know your pet will thrive on a specific food.  The wording on the food label is another way pet owners are easily confused.  There are many misconceptions and myths that we would like the  opportunity to dispel for you.  Talk to one of our trained pet nutrition experts to help you select the best food for your furry family member.