FAQs

Absolutely!  Let our front desk know your preferences, and our front desk will make every effort to accommodate your request.

Occasionally however, there may be circumstances that prevent a certain veterinarian from being available during your pet’s visit.  Our veterinarians work closely together to practice as a team, are all caring and compassionate professionals, and look forward to caring for you furry family member.

Your pet’s comfort is a priority for us. By implementing pain management protocols that might include medications (i.e. NSAIDs, opioids, etc), local anesthetic blocks, laser therapy, and physiotherapy, we will custom tailor a plan to best meet your pet’s medical condition and individual needs.

Our veterinary team takes every precaution to ensure that your pet receives the highest-quality care.

Prior to surgery, we perform a physical exam and preanesthetic bloodwork in order to assess overall health, and personalize anesthetic drug choices.

During the procedure, our veterinary team members will continually assess your pet’s heart and respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and other vital signs to help minimize anesthetic risk. Your pet will also receive intravenous fluid therapy while under anesthetic in order to assist in maintaining optimal blood pressure, as well as provide continual IV access.  Appropriate pain medication is provided pre-, intra-, and post operatively to keep your pet comfortable during the recovery period.

Veterinarians aren’t able to diagnose over the phone. Besides being unethical and illegal, diagnosing by phone doesn’t allow veterinarians to physically examine a pet. Physical examinations are extremely important in our pets, because they’re unable to talk and tell us their symptoms, and they often mask the full extents of their problems.  An accurate diagnosis requires a physical examination at a minimum, and may require bloodwork or other diagnostic tests in order to determine proper treatment.  Treating a pet for the wrong disease or condition will cost more in the end and could be harmful or even deadly to your pet.

If you’re unsure if the signs your pet is exhibiting require a trip to the vet, give us a call!  We would be more than happy to discuss them with you, and together determine if the particular problem warrants an examination.

We keep track of your pet’s weight as an important part of the physical exam and medical record. Weight fluctuations can happen quickly, and may indicate early clues to health concerns.  Having an accurate and current measurement of your pet’s weight will also help us ensure that we prescribe the right dose of preventives, medications, and any needed anesthetics.

Updated 2020: We require that dogs be vaccinated against rabies, distemper, parvovirus, Bordetella (kennel cough) and Leptospirosis (Zoonotic). Cats should be vaccinated against rabies, panleukopenia (feline distemper) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV-goes outdoors ). Note: Lyme and Influenza vaccine are available for dogs. At this time we feel any dog on appropriate parasite prevention with a 4-Dx test done at a minimum annually (blood test that checks for heartworm and vector borne diseases -Ticks ) this represents a very sound approach with or without the Lyme vaccination. Ferrets should be vaccinated for canine distemper and rabies. Our veterinarians (Health Care Team) will always customize a vaccination program for every individual pet. Many of these diseases may not only have serious illness but many can be fatal (eg.Rabies). We are so fortunate to have readily available vaccines that not only SAVE LIVES but have optimal efficacy and safety!