Services

Veterinary Services at Terra Losa Animal Clinic in Edmonton

Terra Losa Animal Clinic is passionate about pets and provides a complete range of services to keep them healthy for the long haul. Our Edmonton veterinarian has the superior expertise to handle everything from routine preventative services to emergency care. Read on to learn more.

family with dog

Routine and Preventative Care

The routine wellness examination is the key for your pet’s long, happy and healthy life. This annual examination gives our Edmonton veterinarian the chance to prevent or catch any diseases before they become serious. Our additional routine services include vaccinations, microchipping, dental, parasite protection and more, depending on your pet’s specific health needs.

Vaccinations

Vaccinations give your pet life-long protection from many virulent diseases. Necessary, or core vaccines, protect pets from such dangerous, and even life-threatening diseases as rabies, distemper, parvovirus, and feline herpes virus. Our Edmonton veterinarian will recommend non-core vaccines based on your pet’s risk factors.

Emergency Services

Unfortunately, medical emergencies in pets can occur at any time, which is why having a veterinarian you can trust for emergency and extended care in the Edmonton area is a must. At Edmonton South Animal Hospital, we're happy to provide emergency care for your pet, regardless of the specific situation. Simply give our office a call and follow the prompts in the event of an emergency and we will work with you to provide your pet with the care and treatment that is needed.

Spay and Neuter

The health benefits from spaying and neutering pets are significant, including less risk of breast cancer and uterine infections for spayed females and elimination of testicular cancer in males.   In addition, the tendency for males to roam, spray and mark is significantly curbed, making them a more enjoyable pet. Best yet – spaying and neutering pets contributes to reducing the number of abandoned and homeless pets crowding shelters and ultimately being euthanized.

Pet Dental Care

Your pet’s mouth is the gateway to the rest of the body, and if his or her teeth don’t have regular cleanings, not only does the risk of periodontal disease increase, but further complications, such as heart disease, can develop. We use anesthesia to make your pet safe and comfortable while our veterinarian performs the cleaning.

Microchipping

Having a microchip implanted in your pet, a procedure known as microchipping, is a safe and effective way to help a missing pet return home.

About one in three pets go missing each year, which means more than 10 million pets slip through an open door, hop a fence, or break free from a leash. Animals that have a microchip are more likely to be reunited with their owners. 22 percent of dogs (without a microchip) who end up in animal shelters return home, according to PetFinder, while more than 52 percent of microchipped dogs go home. Less than 2 percent of lost cats without microchips in animal shelters but 38 percent of cats with microchips reunite with owners.

About Microchips

A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice. In a fast and painless procedure, veterinarian places a microchip just beneath the surface of the animal’s skin, usually between the shoulder blades. The procedure is similar to receiving a shot, so your pet will react in the same as they do when receiving a yearly vaccination. Most mammals can be microchipped, including dogs, cats, horses, and even ferrets. The procedure is quick – it will take more time to do the paperwork than to inject the microchip.

The microchip does not contain an internal energy source, so it is safe and will last the life of your pet. The microchip is encoded with the dog or cat’s unique ID code. A microchip is a permanent form of identification for your pet. The technology cannot track your pet’s whereabouts but it can help identify you as the owner in case your pet is ever lost or stolen.

A veterinarian or specially trained person at an animal shelter waves a handheld scanner over this area of an animal’s body to detect the presence of a microchip and to read the information on it. The animal care professional will then enter the information into a national database of pet microchip information. The database then provides the owner’s contact information.

Even with microchipping, your pet will still need an ID tag. Most people do not own the handheld scanners necessary to detect and read a microchip. Others are unaware the microchips exist and would therefore not think to take the animal to a vet or animal shelter to be scanned. A few might even keep your pet. Having a tag with your name and phone number increases the likelihood that someone would contact you if they found your missing pet.

Parasite Prevention

Keeping dogs, cats and other pets healthy is more than a matter of feeding them at the right time and making sure they get their yearly checkups. Proper pet care also means being aware of the dangers posed by parasites, and doing everything you can to minimize those dangers.

Parasite Prevention in Animals

A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host animal, consuming the food that is meant for the dog or cat … or sometimes even consuming parts of the animal itself. Cats and dogs can transmit parasitic infections both to one other and to your family, which makes it crucial you’re always up to date on parasite prevention.

There are many types of parasites. Among the most common are fleas, which bite and irritate dogs and cats and can cause allergic dermatitis, which may in turn cause excessive scratching or loss of fur. Fleas can also lead transmit tapeworms.

Heartworms are another common parasite, transmitted by mosquitoes and living in the lungs of cats and dogs. As the words grow up, they can cause heart disease and respiratory problems that may be life threatening. Other types of internal parasites include hookworms, tapeworms, roundworms, whipworms and coccidian.

Good parasite prevention means watching for signs of infestation, which include vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, listlessness and general appearance of ill health.

Parasite Dangers in Edmonton

Although Edmonton is not crawling with dangerous insects, it has a high enough population that you should be concerned about parasite prevention. Ticks, for instance, prey upon dogs and cats in three out of four life stages, and are not as rare as we might hope (17 species at last count). Keeping pets safe from fleas and ticks through preventative care is very important.

While ticks are still fairly uncommon, you should still examine your animal’s fur for ticks after they’ve played in tall grass. Edmonton does harbor dangerous ticks, which can transmit diseases to your pets, so it pays to be careful. Note that ticks are also dangerous to you, so you should wear gloves to perform the examination and use tweezers to remove any insects you find on your pet. Once you have the tick in hand, wrap it in toilet paper and flush it down the toilet. Avoid burning or smashing, which can release infectious material.

What Can Terra Losa Animal Clinic Do for You?

Unfortunately, even knowing the signs doesn’t always guarantee you can recognize parasites in your pets. Edmonton South Animal Hospital can help detect parasites through microscopic analysis and prescribe a course of prevention and treatment. Many parasites, including heartworm, are preventable, so talk to the experts at South Animal Hospital about how best to keep your pets safe from parasites year-round.

Anesthesia and Patient Monitoring

During surgery and other medical procedures, our team of veterinarians and veterinary technicians monitors all patients to ensure their safety. We monitor every procedure, regardless of whether it’s routine or more advanced. The type of anesthesia we use depends on the procedure. Some require general anesthesia, while others may only call for local anesthesia. For more specific information on our protocols, please see the individual descriptions or contact us with any questions.

Categories

  • Patient Monitoring
  • General Anesthesia
  • Local Anesthesia

In-House Lab

At the Edmonton South Animal Hospital, we have a complete in-house laboratory that allows us to perform urinalysis, parasite identification, fungal cultures, and blood chemistry testing. We also maintain a collaborative relationship with Idexx reference lab and the University of Guelph -Animal Health Laboratory to provide more complicated testing and comprehensive analysis of our lab results.

Radiology

When we need to figure out what’s wrong with your pet, we routinely use x-rays to help identify the cause of the problem, rule out possible problems, or provide a list of possible causes. We may also use x-rays during a wellness exam to diagnose potential problems before they become serious.

X-rays provide valuable information about a pet’s bones, gastrointestinal tract (stomach, intestines, colon), respiratory tract (lungs), heart, and genitourinary system (bladder, prostate). We use radiology alone or in conjunction with other diagnostic tools. Interpretation of radiographs requires great skill on the part of the veterinarian.

We offer digital radiology (x-rays that are captured digitally rather than on film). This technology allows us to provide you with a quicker diagnosis for your pet. Plus, it uses less radiation than traditional x-rays.

To avoid a blurry image, pets need to remain completely still while an x-ray is taken. In some cases, we may need to sedate your pet or use short-acting general anesthesia.

If you have any questions about our radiology service or what to expect during your pet’s procedure, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Other Services

Our Edmonton animal clinic is fully equipped with the latest technology and protocols, including an in-house lab and digital radiology which let us perform fast and accurate diagnoses. We also have a fully equipped surgical suite to handle everything from cancer to orthopedic surgeries. If the need arises, we are networked with veterinary specialists who can help with more complex cases.

Our list of services is long, but the message is clear: we can handle anything you and your pet bring to us, and we do so with competence and compassion. Call us at 780-484-1178 to learn more!.

Location

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Office Hours

Our Regular Schedule

Edmonton Office

Monday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Tuesday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Wednesday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Thursday:

8:00 am-7:00 pm

Friday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Saturday:

9:00 am-12:30 pm

Sunday:

Closed

Testimonial

  • "Terra Losa Animal clinic is easily the best vet clinic I've ever brought my animals to. I'm not sure how others could have a negative experience because Dr. Smith and staff are terrific!!! My wife and I love them so much that even after moving across town to Millwoods we still refuse to take our 3 cats anywhere else. We'd rather make the drive to the west end than see anybody else. They're the best"
    - Anonymous