As a caring fur baby owner, you want to see your companion enjoy as many years by your side as possible. At Western Hills Animal Medical & Surgical Clinic, we believe that the best way to achieve that goal is through a commitment to wellness care. We don’t want to just be here for you when your fur baby becomes ill, but rather we want to take every measure possible to prevent illness from occurring in the first place. Our wellness and preventative care services are designed to help our patients enjoy long, happy and healthy lives.
At Western Hills, we understand that each fur baby is unique and every animal has their own specific medical needs. We tailor our approach to wellness so that it will address your four-legged best friends’ health care needs as they change over time, from puppy and kittenhood through adulthood and on through the senior years. Whether it’s the first round of vaccinations, a diagnostic test to monitor ongoing health, a treatment to manage an existing illness or anything in between, we’re prepared to support you and your fur baby, every step of the way.
Because companion animals age much faster than we do, having regular checkups is essential to their life and longevity. These routine visits allow our doctors to not only gather a complete and accurate picture of your fur baby’s current health but to also closely monitor them for any changes that may occur over time. In many cases, our doctors are able to identify a potential medical concern and address it before it becomes a more serious and costly problem. Early detection of disease can vastly improve the outcome for your fur baby and can help add years to their life.
Wellness visits at Western Hills include complete “nose to tail” physical examinations, during which the vet will conduct an external exam, checking your fur baby’s eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and skin. We will then check to see how your companion’s internal systems are functioning by listening to the heart and lungs. Should the doctor deem it necessary, diagnostic testing may be ordered to monitor your fur baby’s health further. We’ll also discuss such important lifestyle topics as your fur baby’s diet, exercise routine, behavior and anything else that may be relevant in your case.
One of the most important components of wellness care is vaccinations. Simple vaccines can help protect your four-legged best friend from a broad range of serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases. Just because there’s a vaccine available, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for your fur baby. We’ll conduct a complete health assessment to determine what your companion’s risk factors are so that we can develop and implement a customized vaccination plan that’s perfectly suited for his or her specific needs.
Wellness blood-work is also highly recommended, especially for those fur babies that are seven years of age and older. This bloodwork includes a Complete Blood Count (CBC), Complete Chemistry Profile Panel, and urinalysis for all fur babies, as well as a Thyroid Panel for pets older than seven years. We also highly encourage intestinal parasite fecal screenings twice a year for dogs and cats, as well as radiographs and single- or double-cavity ultrasound.
Finally, wellness visits provide all of us at Western Hills with the opportunity to get to know you and your fur baby better and to develop a lifelong, trusting relationship with both of you. We believe that the better we understand your companion, the better we can tailor our approach to be able to provide the very best possible care throughout his or her life. We encourage you to use the time allotted during wellness visits to ask any questions or bring up any concerns you may have about your four-legged friend so that we may discuss them further and set your mind at ease.
When it comes to keeping your four-legged best friend happy and healthy, we are just as passionate as you are! Let us work with you to help keep your companion feeling their very best and improve the chances of them achieving a lifetime of good health.